New Legal
Report: Right to Strike Backed by International Law
Brussels, 3
June 2014 (ITUC OnLine): A new 122-page ITUC legal report, confirming that the
right to strike is protected under international law, has been released today
as employers try to overturn decades of jurisprudence at the International
Labour Organisation. Employer representatives at the ILO are continuing
their efforts to strip back ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association, which
guarantees workers the right to take strike action, as the UN agency holds its
103rd International Labour Conference in Geneva this month.
Sharan
Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, said from the ILO Conference, “Employers have
been holding the ILO system to ransom, trying to discard more than 50 years of
international law by removing the guarantee of one of the most fundamental
human rights. ILO standards are increasingly important as benchmarks in
international trade and investment agreements as well as guidelines for
responsible business, and ultra-conservative employer groups want to remove any
real meaning from them. The ITUC and its member organisations are
determined to see this challenge off and ensure that workers everywhere cannot
simply be forced to keep working when their bosses refuse to ensure fair pay
and dignity and safety at work.”
As the ITUC’s new Global Rights Index http://www.ituc-csi.org/ituc-global-rights-index-the-world
shows, the right to strike is frequently restricted in law and violated in
practice around the world. In Cambodia, employers even recently called on
the government to denounce ILO Convention 87, while bringing lawsuits against
union that took to the streets to protest against poverty wages in the garment
industry.
“The employers’ arguments at the ILO are legally
unfounded. I am confident that the ITUC’s case, set out in our new report,
would prevail before any international tribunal,” said Burrow.
To read the ITUC Legal Report: http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/ituc_final_brief_on_the_right_to_strike.pdf
To access
the ITUC Global Rights Index in: http://www.ituc-csi.org/new-ituc-global-rights-index-the?lang=en
The ITUC represents 176 million workers in 161
countries and territories and has 325 national affiliates.
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