Police Officers to be Represented at International Labour Conference

For the first time in its 101 year history, police officers will be represented, in their own right, at the International Labour Conference due to take place in June of this year.

The International Labour Organisation has confirmed that ICPRA’s application to participate in the 109th Labour Conference (ILC) has been accepted. The ILC, often referred to as the Parliament of Labour, is the single most important event in the driving of international labour standards. The ILC establishes conventions, recommendations, and international treaties that are legally binding once ratified.

Among the topics to be discussed at this year’s conference are inequalities and the world of work, and the strategic objective of social protection.

Speaking in response to the news, ICPRA President Tom Stamatakis said;

“The fact that police officers will now have a voice at the biggest and most significant labour conference on earth is genuinely overwhelming. For over 100 years police officers have not been heard at the ILC and this development changes that forever.

We applaud the ILC’s governing body for recognising ICPRA. At a time where the world faces unprecedented challenges, from climate change, political instability, and of course a global pandemic, it has never seemed more important than now to ensure the voices of all workers can be heard.

For too long there has been a lack of distinction between the workers who perform police work, and the work of policing. Police trade unions, federations, and associations have a lot to contribute to all work on international labour standards, and it is in our collective interests to ensure workers in all areas cooperate to respond to the challenges of tomorrow.

Although this recognition represents the end of seven years of hard work within ICPRA, and with the ILO in order to ensure ICPRA was formally recognised as an International Non- Governmental Organisation, it is in itself but the first step in ensuring the representatives of police officers are heard on the world stage.”

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