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GB.271/17(Add.1)
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SEVENTEENTH ITEM ON THE AGENDA
Report of the Director-General
Addendum:
Obituary
Mr. Bertil Axel Bolin
1. The Director-General announces with deep regret the death, on 12 March 1998, of Mr. Bertil Axel Bolin, former Worker member of the Governing Body and former Deputy Director-General of the ILO.
2. Born in 1923, Mr. Bolin obtained from the University of Uppsala, Sweden, a Master's degree in Political Science and Economics in 1948 and a Master's degree in Labour Law in 1951. After a career as a Professor of Economics and as a barrister, Mr. Bolin joined the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) in 1954 as a legal adviser and became in 1962 its Director for International Affairs. As chief legal adviser of the LO, Mr. Bolin was one of the architects of modern Swedish labour law in such areas as workers' participation, collective bargaining rights for public servants and leave with pay.
3. Before joining the ILO, Mr. Bolin was a member of the Swedish delegation to the United Nations General Assembly and other United Nations bodies, and chaired the Industrial Development Board (1966-67). He was a member of the International Commission of Jurists, the International Association for Industrial Relations and the Swedish Labour Law Association. He also served on several Royal Commissions and was the author of a number of books and articles on labour legislation, consumers' rights and trade unions in developing countries.
4. His involvement with the ILO began as the Workers' delegate of Sweden to the International Labour Conference, where he was elected Worker Vice-Chairman of the Resolutions Committee. From 1965 to 1968 he served on the Governing Body as a Worker member. His activities were characterized by a spirit of cooperation between the groups.
5. In 1968 Mr. Bolin was appointed Assistant Director-General and in 1974 Deputy Director-General of the ILO. His experience both at the national and international levels enabled him to discharge successfully his duties in the relations sector, where he deployed considerable energy and ability, and brought to the task a calm and dispassionate manner, combined with warmth and approachability. Through his sensitivity and devotion to the cause of the ILO he became an exemplary advocate of tripartism.
6. He will be remembered for his integrity, his commitment to key concerns such as social development, equality of opportunity, the promotion of consultation, partnership and good governance, and for the tolerance and understanding he always showed.
7. The Governing Body will no doubt wish to request the Director-General to convey its sympathy to the family of Mr. Bolin and to the Swedish Trade Union Confederation.
Geneva, 19 March 1998.
Point for decision: Paragraph 7.