Defend the Right to Strike

Sign up to the New Zea­l­and right to strike cam­paign at http://union.org.nz/our-right-to-strike

While inequal­ity is rising, employ­ers’ groups around the world are try­ing to under­mine the right to strike at nation­al and inter­na­tion­al level.

These attacks come at a time when employ­ers and gov­ern­ments imple­ment aus­ter­ity meas­ures, the growth of pre­cari­ous jobs is rampant and social protests are crim­in­al­ized, with the intent to silence work­ers and their demands for decent jobs and social pro­tec­tion.

Without the right to strike, col­lect­ive bar­gain­ing is noth­ing more than beg­ging.

Since June 2012, employ­ers have been chal­len­ging the exist­ence of an inter­na­tion­al right to strike and the author­ity of the ILO and its super­vis­ory mech­an­ism. The increas­ing use of ILO jur­is­pru­dence at nation­al and region­al level, as well as in codes of con­duct on busi­ness and human rights, shows the rel­ev­ance and import­ance of ILO stand­ards and the need for an effect­ive ILO super­vis­ory mech­an­ism. This crisis is also inten­ded to pre­vent nation­al and region­al courts from deriv­ing a right to strike from inter­na­tion­al law.

ITF pres­id­ent Paddy Crum­lin com­ments: “The right to strike, to with­draw one’s labour in pro­tec­tion of eco­nom­ic and indus­tri­al access and respect in the work­place, is essen­tial to decent and sus­tain­able lives of all work­ers. It is one of our most basic labour rights, under­pinned by fun­da­ment­al civil and human rights. The work­ing women and men that rely on this free­dom will fight with determ­in­a­tion and per­sist­ence against the deni­al of this access to equity and justice through their trade uni­ons and with the wider sup­port of genu­inely demo­crat­ic and sup­port­ive polit­ic­al, com­munity, eco­nom­ic and socially pro­gress­ive organ­isa­tions and indi­vidu­als.

Rosa Pavan­el­li, PSI Gen­er­al Sec­ret­ary, says: “Undemo­crat­ic regimes attack trade uni­ons and all forms of protest action, while the right to strike is excess­ively reg­u­lated in many indus­tri­al­ized coun­tries through the expan­sion of essen­tial ser­vices, where­as grow­ing num­bers of pub­lic sec­tor work­ers are denied the right to strike. Free trade agree­ments and ad-hoc private tribunals (investor-state dis­pute set­tle­ment or ISDS) that pri­or­it­ize the interests of mul­tina­tion­al com­pan­ies over the pub­lic good and demo­cracy, aim to replace an inter­na­tion­al sys­tem based on human rights and inter­na­tion­al labour stand­ards. Labour clauses that refer to ILO stand­ards are no guar­an­tee for the respect of work­ers’ rights if the ILO’s author­ity con­tin­ues to be under­mined. That is why this is a pri­or­ity issue for all work­ers.”

In March 2015, the ILO Gov­ern­ing Body has to take a decision on the res­ol­u­tion of this con­flict that has had a chilling effect on the ILO super­vis­ory mech­an­ism since 2012. If no agree­ment can be reached, work­ers demand a refer­ral to the Inter­na­tion­al Court of Justice for an advis­ory opin­ion on the mat­ter, as fore­seen in the ILO Con­sti­tu­tion. Many gov­ern­ments sup­port the demand of the labour move­ment to respect the ILO Con­sti­tu­tion and to bring the case before the ICJ. But some are pro­cras­tin­at­ing. These gov­ern­ments and all groups of employ­ers have to held account­able for their dis­respect of inter­na­tion­al law and the cru­cial role of the ILO.

ITUC Gen­er­al Sec­ret­ary Shar­an Bur­row says: “Through­out his­tory, when employ­ers and gov­ern­ments have refused dia­logue and nego­ti­ation and instead imposed their will, work­ers have still taken the step and faced the risks of with­draw­ing their labour. That will not change. Work­ers will con­tin­ue to take strike action when they have to – but the employ­er agenda would make them crim­in­als. Tak­ing away the right to strike would turn us all into slaves. We will not allow that to hap­pen.”