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The Council also considered a memorandum submitted by the World Federation of Trade Unions alleging infringement of tradeunion rights in Argentine, Burma, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Spain, Greece, India, Iran, Portugal, and the Union of South Africa. Counter charges were levelled at the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries by the American Federation of Labour, which contended that trade unionists in these countries had no rights as such but were merely an administrative arm of the Government. After a long and at times bitter debate the Council finally adopted a New Zealand, resolution drawing attention to the importance of ensuring the full exercise of trade-union rights and transmitting the record of discussion to the ILO and the Commission on Human Rights. A related item on the Council's agenda concerned the enforcement of trade-union rights, and it was decided that the question should be studied by the Secretary-General in consultation with ILO. This resolution was opposed by the Eastern European countries on the grounds that the ILO did not represent the views of workers. At its sixth session the Council affirmed the principle of equal pay for equal work. At its seventh session the Council adopted a resolution in more general terms inviting member States to ensure that women were granted the same rights as men in employment, remuneration, social insurance, leisure, and training. This question is being further studied by the Commission on the Status of Women and by the ILO. Other questions discussed by the Economic and Social Council at its seventh and eighth sessions included arrangements for the United Nations Scientific Conference on the Conservation and Utilization of Resources, now scheduled to take place in the United States from 17 August to 6 September, 1949 ; a proposal to establish United Nations research laboratories, a question that is to be studied by a small committee of experts in conjunction with UNESCO a proposal to draft a Declaration of Old Age Rights, a question which the Council referred to the Social Commission and the Commission on Human Rights ; and a proposal to draft an international convention that would introduce uniformity in declarations of death of missing persons, a subject which the Council referred to. an ad hoc committee. The Council also decided to extend until 1952 the life of the SubCommission on Freedom of Information and of the Press, originally established to prepare documentation for an international conference on freedom of information. This conference was held in MarchApril, 1948, and was described in the Department's annual report for 1948. During the year, the Council made various improvements in its own working arrangements and also devoted attention to the consolidation of work that it had already done, by introducing a procedure