Stakeholder Consultation

Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB)

Department of Labor (DOL)

DRAFT Strategic Plan FY 2010-2016

Draft: February 26, 2010

ILAB Overview

Mission: The Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) leads the U.S. Department of Labor’s efforts to ensure that workers around the world are treated fairly and are able to share in the benefits of the global economy. ILAB’s mission is to use all available international channels to improve working conditions, raise living standards, protect workers’ ability to exercise their rights, and address the workplace exploitation of children and other vulnerable populations.

ILAB Overview

Leadership:Sandra Polaski, Deputy Undersecretary for International LaborCarol Pier, Associate Deputy Undersecretary for International Labor

Organization: FTEs: 105 Current FY 2010 Resources: $92,665,000

ILAB Goals

ILAB supports the following Department of Labor Strategic Goals and Outcome Goals:

Strategic Goal: Foster fair working conditions in the global marketplace

– Outcome Goal: Assure that global markets are governed by fair market rules that protect vulnerable people, including women and children, and provide workers a fair share of productivity and a voice in their work lives.

ILAB Strategies

Our strategies to achieve these goals include:

We are targeting the root causes of labor exploitation by:– Policy Initiatives: actively engaging with numerous U.S.

government interagency groups, international organizations, and other countries to advocate policies that improve labor rights and living standards of workers in the global economy.

– Technical Assistance: designing and implementing innovative and successful programs such as Better Work and focusing on the improving the livelihood of families so that they do not have to rely on the income of their children.

– Research: monitoring and assessing international labor standards and conducting and publishing rigorous research on violations of fundamental worker rights. These reports will be more analytical and include findings and recommendations for improvements.

ILAB Strategies We are using new approaches.- ILAB plans to significantly upgrade its ability to monitor

labor conditions in FTA and preference program countries;

- ILAB will engage more extensively and substantively with other countries’ labor ministries and regional and international organizations; and

- ILAB will undertake new approaches to address the root causes of child labor and forced labor, with a goal of improving the household incomes of such laborers so that they do not fall victim to exploitation.

- ILAB will improve the analytical quality of its research and make reports more strategically useful to policy makers and the general public;

ILAB Results

We are measuring results differently.– Previous GPRA measures for ILAB only

included our work on eliminating exploitive child labor;

– We are going to start measuring the outcome of our efforts to improve labor rights, working conditions, living standards of workers in the global economy, the lives of vulnerable populations, and our efforts to address the root causes of exploitive child labor and forced labor.

ILAB Results How will we measure success?

Illustrative examples of the how ILAB intends to measure success include:– Number of workers experiencing improvements

in their ability to exercise their fundamental labor rights, working conditions, and living standards;

– Percentage of children removed/prevented from the worst forms of child labor; and

– Percentage of households with improved livelihoods as a result of ILAB interventions

ILAB Results Do you believe these are the right outcomes and

measures? These outcomes and measures are clearly aligned with the Secretary’s vision of “Good Jobs for Everyone” and ILAB’s mission and strategic objectives. Pursuing these objectives will demonstrate our commitment to assist governments that have the political will to foster better livelihoods and rights for their workforces and allow U.S. and foreign workers to more equitably participate in the global economy.

Questions

If you would like to send comments to DOL or to learn more about the DOL strategic planning

process, please visit http://www.dol.gov/strategicplan2010.