| Right to Strike under ILO Convention No. 87 | |
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| Court | International Court of Justice |
| Full case name | Right to Strike under ILO Convention No. 87 (Request for Advisory Opinion) |
| Started | 16 November 2023 |
| Decided | Pending |
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The Right to Strike under ILO Convention No. 87 is a pending case before the International Court of Justice brought by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in November 2023.
Starting in 2012, employer representatives refused to recognize the right to strike as a corollary of the right to collective bargaining, as codified in International Labour Convention 98. [1] [2] This refusal led to the ILO's supervisory functions, in particular the Committee of Experts, ceasing to operate properly for more than a decade. As the ILO's tripartite constituents (governments, employers and trade unions) were unable to resolve how to interpret the right to strike, the governing body voted to seek the opinion of the ICJ. Article 37 of the ILO's constitution provides for this mechanism when conventions are in dispute. [3]
As of June 2024, 31 submissions had been received concerning the case. [4]
The International Court of Justice, or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on international legal issues. It is one of the six organs of the United Nations (UN), and is located in The Hague, Netherlands.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the first and oldest specialized agencies of the UN. The ILO has 187 member states: 186 out of 193 UN member states plus the Cook Islands. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with around 40 field offices around the world, and employs some 3,381 staff across 107 nations, of whom 1,698 work in technical cooperation programmes and projects.
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Collective action in the United Kingdom including the right to strike in UK labour law is the main support for collective bargaining. Although the right to strike has attained the status, since 1906, of a fundamental human right, protected in domestic case law, statute, the European Convention on Human Rights and international law, the rules in statute have generated significant litigation. The "right of workers to engage in a strike or other industrial action" is expressly recognised in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 section 180, and has been recognised repeatedly by the Court of Appeal as "a fundamental human right"., and the House of Lords.
International labour law is the body of rules spanning public and private international law which concern the rights and duties of employees, employers, trade unions and governments in regulating Work and the workplace. The International Labour Organization and the World Trade Organization have been the main international bodies involved in reforming labour markets. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have indirectly driven changes in labour policy by demanding structural adjustment conditions for receiving loans or grants. Issues regarding Conflict of laws arise, determined by national courts, when people work in more than one country, and supra-national bodies, particularly in the law of the European Union, have a growing body of rules regarding labour rights.
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