Tripartism is an economic system of neo-corporatism based on a mixed economy and tripartite contracts between employers' organizations, trade unions, and the government of a country.
[1] In Tripartism, the government has a large role in the economy and engages in negotiations between labour unions and business interest groups to establish economic policy.
Tripartite agreements are an important component in practical labour law, since they cover not only wages but also issues such as policies on benefits, holiday, work hours, and worker safety.
The ILO offered the world a different way to solve social strife; it provided it with the procedures and techniques of bargaining and negotiation to replace violent conflict as a means of securing more humane and dignified conditions of work.
The participation in the ILO deliberations of delegates directly representing the interest of workers and employers adds a connection with economic reality that cannot be reproduced in an organization where governments are the only spokespersons.
On the other hand, employers frequently play the role of the brake on initiatives put forward both by the workers and the Office and its Director-General to slow action they consider hasty, or which would work against the perceived interest of business.
The challenge for the ILO and its constituents is to adapt the tripartite model to a globalizing world, where there are new actors operating outside national frameworks and increasingly diverse forms of voice and representation.