[1]: 481 [3] Most of the demands of the declaration were a result of a partnership of American and Western European labor unions and the ILO secretariat.
[1]: 481 The declaration begins with general aims and purposes for the ILO and then enumerates specific reforms which, unlike those in the original ILO constitution, are expressed in broader terms to address both immediate and future needs and aspirations and to avoid any provision from becoming spent.
These include: To achieve these fundamental goals "effective international and national action" is necessary (IV).
[2]: 288 The declaration does not envision its universal principles giving rise to uniform labour standards but expressly states that they "must be determined with due regard to the stage of social and economic development reached by each people," but that "their progressive application to peoples who are still dependent, as well as those who have already achieved self-government, is a matter of concern to the whole civilized world" (V).
[1]: 482 [6]: 45 The declaration's emphasis on human rights was to bear more fruit: the ILO promulgated a series of Conventions and Recommendations dealing with labour inspection, freedom of association, the right to organise and collectively bargain, equal pay, against forced labor and discrimination.