Freedom of Association and the Right to Strike

Freedom of Association and the Right to Strike: Towards an International Court of Justice Resolution?

On Monday, the 27th of November, the UCL Human Rights Institute and the UCL Labour Rights Institute hosted a public event to examine the very topical question of freedom of association and the right to strike, with Lord Hendy KC, Professor Tonia Novitz and Professor Martins Paparinskis. The event was introduced and chaired by Professor Nicola Countouris and Professor Virginia Mantouvalou.

The panelists examined the following issue: Does the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise 1948 (No 87) protect the right to strike? The ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, a committee of independent experts responsible for monitoring the application of ratified Conventions by Member States of the ILO, has taken the view that the right to strike is a corollary to the right to freedom of association. However, the Employers’ group has been questioning this, and this led to a crisis in the ILO in recent years.
On the 10th of November, the Governing Body of the ILO had voted to refer the dispute over the right to strike to the ICJ under article 37 of the ILO Constitution that provides that any question or dispute relating to the interpretation of Conventions can be referred to the ICJ.
In this public event, experts in labour law and international law considered the questions, challenges and opportunities raised by this development.

A recording of the event is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI4yQuCpym4