Labour is not a commodity

"Labour is not a commodity" is the principle expressed in the preamble to the International Labour Organization's founding documents. It expresses the view that people should not be treated like inanimate commodities, capital, another mere factor of production, or resources. Instead, people who work for a living should be treated as human beings and accorded dignity and respect. Paul O'Higgins attributes the phrase to John Kells Ingram, who used it in 1880 during a meeting in Dublin of the British Trades Union Congress.

Law

 * Clayton Act 1914, which gave trade unions in the United States the freedom from paying penalties from courts for organising and taking collective action
 * Versailles Treaty, establishing the International Labour Organization, Article 427
 * Declaration of Philadelphia 1944, reestablishing the ILO under the United Nations and reaffirming the first principle that labour is not a commodity