This year’s meeting was also attended by a Slovenian tripartite delegation of government and representatives of the social partners, who took an active role in the work of the committees and plenary sessions at the conference. The delegation was led by the Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Luka Mesec, who delivered a speech during the plenary session of the conference on the report of the Director-General of the International Labour Office on the promotion of social justice.

In his speech, the minister stressed, among other things, that respect for human rights, including workers’ rights, is at the very heart of the pursuit of social justice. He advocated for ensuring equal opportunities and non-discrimination, and for taking decisive action at all levels to improve the situation of women and any other group that faces discrimination, including the LGBTIQ+ community. Ensuring decent work for all must remain a priority in our collective efforts to promote social justice, especially at a time of rapid change in the world of work, driven by digitalisation, technological progress, climate change and demographic shifts. In this context, he stressed the importance of strengthening and developing labour protection and social security in order to adequately address these new challenges in the world of work.

He went on to list some of Slovenia’s achievements in this area, including its constructive and ambitious engagement with other EU Member States in negotiating a Proposal for a Directive on improving working conditions in platform work.

At the end of his address, the minister expressed Slovenia’s strong support for the Director-General’s initiative to establish a Global Coalition for Social Justice. Particularly in the light of global challenges, crises and major changes in the world of work, the ILO’s close cooperation with other international organisations, institutions and stakeholders will contribute to policy alignment at national, regional and international levels, and to the very purpose of the coalition. The ILO, characterised by tripartism, social dialogue and a normative mandate, remains empowered to take a leading role in addressing the challenges and opportunities of decent work in a rapidly changing world of work, and in promoting social justice for all.

During the two-week session, the conference adopted a programme and budget for the two-year period 2024–2025, as well as two resolutions with important conclusions related to fair transition and labour protection. Even in the light of the many changes in the world of work and global crises, the Conclusions concerning the second recurrent discussion on labour protection provides valuable guidance for achieving (more) inclusive, adequate and effective labour protection, based on social dialogue.

All the decisions taken at this year’s conference will soon be available in consolidated form on the ILO’s official website.