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IXTERXATIONAL LABOrR CONFERENCE. 



[Jan., 



Insurance against Sickness, Old Age, etc.— Here again 

 similar arguments applied, the intention being merely to afford 

 the agricultural worker similar privileges to industrial workers. 

 In this case, however, the Conference adopted the form of a 

 Eecommendation rather than a Convention as giving greater 

 elasticity in view of the fact that social insurance might be 

 adopted under special terms and conditions for certain groups 

 of workers which could not be made applicable either generally 

 or to agricultural VNorkers as a group. 



'•That each Member of the International Labour Organisation extend 

 its laws and regulations establishing systems of insurance against sickness, 

 invalidity, old age and other similar social risks to agricultural Mage- 

 earners on conditions equivalent to those prevailing in the case of workers 

 in industrial and commercial occupations." 



Technical Agricultural Education. — In regard to the desira- 

 bility of encouraging the development of vocational agricultural 

 education there was practical unanimity and the following 

 Eecommendation was adopted : — 



'•That each Member of the International Labour Organisation 

 endeavours to develop vocational agricultural education and in particular 

 to make such education available to agricultural wage-earaers on the same 

 conditions as to other persons engaged in agriculture." 



Women Workers in Agriculture. — Two Recommendations 

 were adopted as regards women workers in agriculture, one 

 relating to the protection of v.omen before and after childbirth 

 and the second relating to the employment of women at night. 

 As regards the first, it may be observed that although this 

 country has not accepted in its entirety the [Maternity Conven- 

 tion of Washington, women workers have in practice in the 

 National Health Insurance Acts similar privileges of a more 

 extensive nature to those contemplated by the Convention. 



In regard to the employment of women at night, this is, of 

 course, very rare in Great Britain, and would only occur when 

 the term night includes the early morning. 



The Eecommendation relating to maternity was as follows : — 



That each Member of the International Labour Organisation take 

 measures to ensure to women wage-earaers employed in agricultuial 

 undertakings, protection before and after eliildbirth similar to that 

 provided by the Draft Convention adopted by the Iniernational Labour 

 Conference at Washington for women employed in industry and 

 commerce, and that such measures should include the right to a period 

 of absence from work before and after childbirth and to a grant of 

 benefit during the s-aid period provided either out of public funds or 

 by means of system of insurance." 



