Kari Tapiola has been with the ILO since 1996. The Finnish labour expert and former unionist served as Deputy Director-General and Executive Director from 1996 to 2010. Since October 2010 he has been Special Adviser to the Director-General of the ILO.

Kari Tapiola worked in Finland as a journalist (1966-1972) and as the Political Secretary of the Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1972. He was International Secretary of the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) in 1972. Before joining the Office Mr. Tapiola was a member of the ILO’s Governing Body, representing the Nordic Workers, for five years. He attended his first International Labour Conference as a Workers’ delegate of Finland in 1974. In the Conferences 1991-1996 he was Workers’ Vice-President of the Resolutions Committee.

In 1986, the International Labour Conference adopted a resolution that took up the basic ideas of Convention n°182. The debate during the conference was lively. The word "unacceptable" forms was used to describe certain forms of child labour in hazardous workplaces, which was tantamount to saying that there were "acceptable" forms of labour. This conference seemed to believe that all forms of child labour were unacceptable though. In 1999, for the adoption of Convention n°182, negotiations were easier between employers and employees. In this 8th part of our interview, Mr. Kari Tapiola looks back at the tensions that surrounded the adoption of these conventions.

To listen to the 9th part, please click here.

Photo by P. Deloche, courtesy of ILO. All of these industries pose a potential threat to the safety and well-being of child labourers. In agriculture, children may be exposed to toxic fertilizers or dangerous blades or tools; in mining they may face the risk of mine collapse or work with explosives; in construction they may be at risk from injury related to dangerous machinery; in scavenging they may risk at risk of infection from exposure to toxic chemicals and wastes.