Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association

Right to strike10

Interference by the authorities during the course of the strike

1. The mere possibility of intervention by the ministry in strikes beyond essential services in the strict sense of the term, which is firmly entrenched in the law, along with the practice of intervening in areas which do not seem, at first sight, to be indispensable to the national interest, and the many modalities required for a strike to become legal as well as the serious penalties incurred in case of recourse to an illegal strike, unavoidably have a bearing on the framework and climate within which negotiations take place.

1. In one case where the government had consulted the workers in order to determine whether they wished the strike to continue or be called off, and where the organization of the ballot had been entrusted to a permanent, independent body, with the workers enjoying the safeguard of a secret ballot, the Committee emphasized the desirability of consulting the representative organizations with a view to ensuring freedom from any influence or pressure by the authorities which might affect the exercise of the right to strike in practice.

1. The intervention of the army in relation to labour disputes is not conducive to the climate free from violence, pressure or threats that is essential to the exercise of freedom of association.