Today the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered its Advisory Opinion on the Right to Strike under ILO Convention No. 87, ruling that the right to strike of workers and their organisations is protected as an essential component of freedom of association.
ITF General Secretary Stephen Cotton said:
Transport workers keep the world moving and today, the International Court of Justice has confirmed our right to strike is protected under Convention 87 as fundamental to freedom of association.
“This ruling is a critical moment to reinforce multilateralism, tripartism and social dialogue – and it is welcomed by millions of transport workers and their unions the world over, who have long fought to defend their jobs, their safety, their lives and their fundamental right to withdraw their labour."
The ITF congratulates the ITUC, our sister global unions and all the workers' organisations that made this moment possible.
Please see the full statement from the ITUC here and below, and full ruling and press release from the ICJ for further information.
ITUC welcomes ICJ confirmation that the right to strike is protected under ILO Convention 87
The ITUC welcomes the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, confirming that the right to strike is protected under International Labour Organization Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise.
The International Court of Justice has an important constitutional role to play in the institutional governance of the ILO, and the Court has effectively discharged this role making an invaluable contribution to the ILO and multilateralism more broadly.
The Court’s opinion reaffirms decades of consistent international labour jurisprudence and restores legal certainty and credibility within the international labour standards system.
The right to strike is an essential component of freedom of association and a fundamental means through which workers defend their interests, secure decent work and contribute to democratic societies.
The ITUC stresses that today’s opinion is important not only for workers and trade unions, but also for governments and responsible businesses. Legal clarity and predictability on such a critical aspect of international labour law and the ILO standards supervisory system are indispensable for stable industrial relations and effective social dialogue.
The advisory opinion is therefore a victory for the ILO and its governance structures.
The follow-up to this ruling will have to be carried out by the ILO. The ITUC expects that all constituents will undertake this exercise in a constructive spirit and in good faith, with the aim of ensuring that the ILO supervisory system fully resumes its work in guiding governments in their application of Convention 87, including with regard to the right to strike, while continuing to benefit from the ILO’s unique expertise and tripartite structure.
“We thank the world court for this advisory opinion. The Court has confirmed that international law supports the longstanding understanding shared not only by unions, but across large parts of the ILO system for decades," said ITUC General Secretary Luc Triangle.
“This is an important moment for legal certainty, for social justice and for the credibility of the international labour standards system.”
The ITUC calls on all ILO constituents to move forward in a spirit of constructive cooperation and renewed commitment to freedom of association, collective bargaining and social dialogue.
