Could UK strike laws be in breach of international obligations, asks Chris Syder
Membership of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a Geneva-based United Nations body that promotes social justice, obliges the UK to respect freedom of association. Respect for freedom of association is also a legal obligation for those governments that ratify ILO labour standards incorporating freedom of association. The best known ILO labour standard concerning freedom of association is Convention 87. The UK ratified Convention 87 in June 1949 and, in so doing, is obliged to ensure that its national labour laws and practices comply with the terms of the Convention.
“Right to strike” dispute
In recent years, the national employer organisations and national trade unions participating in the ILO have disagreed about whether the “right to strike” and its modalities form part of Convention 87’s freedom of association obligations. If they do, then they form part of the UK’s freedom of association obligations flowing from its ratification of Convention 87. Herein lies a problem because the UK’s current strike laws do not conform to these modalities—not least because of the ban on sympathy strikes
