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The Paschim Banga Cha Majoor Samity, a tea garden workers' union in West Bengal, filed a representation against India before the International Labour Organization on 1 May 2026, International Labour Day.
The representation was filed under Article 24 of the ILO Constitution, which lets workers' or employers' organisations allege that a member state has failed to observe a convention it has ratified.
The union alleged starvation deaths, severe malnutrition, non-payment of wages and provident fund dues, absence of minimum wages, and discrimination against women and Adivasi workers.
It cited a survey of nearly 20,000 tea plantation workers in which about 44% had a Body Mass Index below 17.
If the Governing Body finds the representation receivable, an ad hoc tripartite committee of government, employer and worker representatives examines it.
Article 24 allows an industrial association of employers or of workers to tell the ILO Governing Body that a member state has failed to secure the effective observance, within its jurisdiction, of a convention that the state has ratified. Two limits define it. First, only organisations may file - a trade union or an employers' federation - and never an individual worker. Second, it reaches only ratified conventions; an unratified convention creates no obligation to enforce. The Office acknowledges receipt and informs the government, the Officers of the Governing Body recommend whether the representation is receivable, and if it is, an ad hoc tripartite committee of three - one government, one employer and one worker representative - examines the substance along with the government's reply. The committee reports its findings and recommendations to the Governing Body, which may call for legal, administrative or policy reform. If the government does not act, the matter can go to the Committee of Experts or escalate into a full complaint under Article 26.
Simple Analogy: It is less a court case than a formal audit: the union files the objection, a three-member panel drawn from all three sides of the labour relationship examines the books, and the finding is published rather than enforced.
The representation procedure itself - workers' or employers' organisations may allege non-observance of a ratified convention
Allows the ILO to publish the representation and the government's reply if the explanation offered is unsatisfactory - the 'naming and shaming' step, since the ILO cannot impose economic sanctions
The complaint procedure, a heavier mechanism to which an unresolved Article 24 matter can escalate
The central statute governing housing, medical facilities, drinking water and welfare obligations of tea plantation employers in India
Consolidates minimum wage law across sectors, including the wage floor questions raised for plantation workers
Sets international labour standards and supervises their observance; the only tripartite UN agency, with governments, employers and workers all represented
The executive organ that decides whether a representation is receivable and constitutes the ad hoc tripartite committee to examine it
Independent body that reviews member states' compliance reports; an Article 24 matter may be referred to it for follow-up
GS Paper II > Important International Institutions, their structure and mandate; Social Justice: vulnerable sections; GS Paper III > Labour reforms
General Awareness > International Organisations and Current Affairs
A formal allegation by a workers' or employers' organisation that a member state has failed to observe a convention it has ratified
The heavier ILO procedure, available to member states, Conference delegates or the Governing Body, to which an unresolved representation may escalate
The ILO's defining structure, in which governments, employers and workers are all represented in its organs and committees
The Governing Body's threshold decision on whether a representation meets the formal conditions to be examined at all
Weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in metres; a value below 18.5 indicates underweight, and below 17 signals moderate to severe thinness