Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association

Right of organizations freely to organize their activities and to formulate their programmes9

Other activities of organizations (protest activities, representation of members, sit-ins, public demonstrations, etc.)

1. The right of petition is a legitimate activity of trade union organizations, and persons who sign such trade union petitions should not be reprimanded or punished for this type of activity.

1. Trade unions should be free to determine the procedure for submitting claims to the employer and the legislation should not impede the functioning of a trade union by obliging a trade union to call a general meeting every time there is a claim to be made to an employer.

1. Denouncing to the competent authorities insufficient occupational safety and health measures is in fact a legitimate trade union activity and a workers right which should be guaranteed by law.

1. If a government takes reprisals, directly or indirectly, against trade unionists or the leaders of workers or employers organizations for the simple reason that they protest against the appointment of workers or employers delegates to a national or international meeting, this constitutes an infringement of trade union rights.

1. Legislation which permits the competent authorities to ban any organization which carries on any normal trade union activity, such as campaigning for a minimum wage, if that activity has at time figured in the programme of trade union or other organization which has been declared to be unlawful, is incompatible with the generally accepted principle that the public authorities should refrain from any interference which would restrict the right of workers organizations to organize their activities and to formulate their programmes, or which would impede the lawful exercise of this right.

1. The expression of an opinion by a trade union organization concerning a court decision relative to the killing of trade union members is in fact a legitimate trade union activity.

1. By threatening retaliatory measures against workers who had merely expressed their intention to hold a sit-in in pursuance of their legitimate economic and social interests, the employer interfered in the workers basic right to organize their administration and activities and to formulate their programmes, contrary to Article 3 of Convention No. 87.

1. The extent to which the part played by the trade unions in organizing work competition and undertaking propaganda for production or the carrying out of economic plans is consistent with the fulfilment by the trade unions of their responsibility for protecting the interests of the workers depends on the degree of freedom enjoyed by the trade unions in other respects.

1. The Committee has considered that, while it is not called upon to express an opinion as to the desirability of entrusting the administration of social insurance and the supervision of the application of social legislation to occupational associations rather than to administrative state organs, in so far as such a measure might restrict the free exercise of trade union rights, such questions might be within its mandate: (1) if the trade unions exercise discrimination in administering the social insurance funds made available to them for the purpose of exercising pressure on unorganized workers; (2) if the independence of the trade union movement should thereby be compromised.

1. Neither legislation nor the application thereof should limit the right of employers and workers organizations to represent their members, including in cases of individual labour complaints.

1. The right of workers to be represented by an official of their union in any proceedings involving their working conditions, in accordance with procedures prescribed by laws or regulations, is a right that is generally recognized in a large number of countries. It is particularly important that this right should be respected when workers whose level of education does not enable them to defend themselves adequately without the assistance of a more experienced person, are not permitted to be represented by a lawyer and so can rely only on their union officers for assistance.

1. The restriction imposed on trade unions to represent their members in cases of appeal at the highest level or the restriction imposed on members to be represented by a lawyer rather than by their trade union, does not in itself constitute undue interference with the right to pursue lawful activities for the defence of workers or employers occupational interests.

1. The right of trade unions to organize their own administration and activities and to formulate their own programmes is not affected by the introduction of compulsory representation by a lawyer in the national courts. However, the introduction of a costly and previously non-existent obligation to be represented by a lawyer of the Court of Cassation, in other words a specialized lawyer, could, among other things, result in limiting the number of appeals lodged by trade unions or workers. This decree could also affect the rate of trade union membership, because fewer workers might be interested in joining trade unions if one of the trade union functions was removed.

1. The boycott is a very special form of action which, in some cases, may involve a trade union whose members continue their work and are not directly involved in the dispute with the employer against whom the boycott is imposed. In these circumstances, the prohibition of boycotts by law does not necessarily appear to involve an interference with trade union rights.

1. The choice of unionists to take part in purely union-organized training courses, wherever held, should be left to the workers organization or educational institution responsible for such activities and not be dictated by any political parties.

1. The question of the fixing of a private enterprise day by a central employers organization is a matter which should be decided freely by the occupational organization concerned and there should be no need for an administrative authorization of this kind of commemoration or the fixing of its date.