[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 21 (Monday, May 25, 1998)]
[Page 926]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Senate Transmitting a Convention Adopted by the 
International Labor Conference and Documentation

May 18, 1998

To the Senate of the United States:

    With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to 
ratification, I transmit herewith a certified copy of the Convention 
(No. 111) Concerning Discrimination (Employment and Occupation), adopted 
by the International Labor Conference at its 42nd Session in Geneva on 
June 25, 1958. Also transmitted is the report of the Department of 
State, with a letter dated January 6, 1997, from then Secretary of Labor 
Robert Reich, concerning the Convention.
    This Convention obligates ratifying countries to declare and pursue 
a national policy aimed at eliminating discrimination with respect to 
employment and occupation. As explained more fully in the letter from 
Secretary Reich, U.S. law and practice fully comport with its 
provisions.
    In the interest of clarifying the domestic application of the 
Convention, my Administration proposes that two understandings accompany 
U.S. ratification.
    The proposed understandings are as follows:
        ``The United States understands the meaning and scope of 
      Convention No. 111 in light of the relevant conclusions and 
      practice of the Committee of Experts on the Application of 
      Conventions and Recommendations which have been adopted prior to 
      the date of U.S. ratification. The Committee's conclusions and 
      practice are, in any event, not legally binding on the United 
      States and have no force and effect on courts in the United 
      States.
        ``The United States understands that the federal 
      nondiscrimination policy of equal pay for substantially equal work 
      meets the requirements of Convention 111. The United States 
      further understands that Convention 111 does not require or 
      establish the doctrine of comparable worth with respect to 
      compensation as that term is understood under United States law 
      and practice.''
    These understandings would have no effect on our international 
obligations under Convention No. 111.
    Ratification of this Convention would be consistent with our policy 
of seeking to adhere to additional international labor instruments as a 
means both of ensuring that our domestic labor standards meet 
international requirements, and of enhancing our ability to call other 
governments to account for failing to fulfill their obligations under 
International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions. I recommend that the 
Senate give its advice and consent to the ratification of ILO Convention 
No. 111.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
May 18, 1998.