This chapter tells the story of the passage through the 2011 and 2012 ILCs of the SPF Recommendation idea. Having nurtured and refined the concept within the Social Security Department for several years, as we saw in the last chapter, how would the secretariat try to ensure its smooth passage through these events? The chapter starts with an initial discussion of why getting agreement of the ILO to the SPF might be a challenge in the context of the tripartite governance structure of the ILO. It then describes and analyses how the policy was steered through the 2011 and 2012 ILCs to final acceptance.

Challenging path dependency

The ILO governance arrangements, cast as they are in the mould of tripartite negotiations between government and representatives of organised formal labour and employers, were not initially designed to address policies concerning the welfare of citizens or residents. Social protection for all – cash transfers for children, access to affordable health for people living in poverty, income security for the 80% of the world's population who are in the informal and agricultural sectors and often outside any economy altogether – is generally seen as the concern of other actors: social movements, non-governmental organisations and global social policy campaigners. In Chapter Two we saw the role of such movements in advancing the cause of universal social protection and universal pensions during the first decade of this century. To what extent would the workers and employers side with the case for a SPF for all?

The governing institutions of the ILO – the ILC and the governing body – are composed not just of government representatives, but also of representatives of labour unions, mainly the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and employer associations, the International Organisation of Employers (IOE). Unions and employers each hold a quarter of the seats in the ILC and governing body, while government representatives hold the remaining half. The activities of the ILO are supported by a large secretariat. Important for our analysis is the fact that, unlike governments, unions and employers have their own organisational structures within the International Labour Office – ACTRAV and ACTEMP – which enable them to engage in dialogue with the Office.