The Right for Strike in ILO Jurisprudence: Crisis of Recognition?

Abstract

The article deals with understanding the right to strike as a human right, which was formed during the 20th century, its place among human rights, normative regulation of the right to strike at the international and national levels, as well as its role in labor relations and employment law. The centerpiece of the article is the study of crisis recognition of the right to strike, caused by the Employers' Group's statements at the International Labour Conference in 2012. At this conference the Employers' Group have declared its refusal to discuss list of countries, selected from the report of the Committee of Experts and earlier approved by tripartite partners, and non-fulfilling obligations arising from ratified at conventions, at the Committee on the Application of Standards of the International Labour Conference. The statement was motivated by the fact the right to strike is not expressly recognized in the Convention-87, and the Expert Committee making conclusions about the violation of the right to strike by some states- ILO members, got beyond its mandate. So was raised question not only on the recognition of the right to strike, which was being developed for decades, but also about the mandate of the Expert Committee as a whole. To understand the scope of the modern recognition of the right to strike, a history of the adoption of the ILO standards concerning the right to strike, and discussions on the content of standards are investigated. The article analyses how the interpretation of Convention-87 developed by the ILO supervisory bodies, particularly by the Committee on Freedom of Association and the Committee of Experts on application of the conventions and Recommendations; explores the limits of the mandate of the mentioned bodies in the interpretation of the conventions' content; the role of Employers', Workers' and Governments' groups in the recognition and development of these interpretations. Efforts undertaken inside the ILO to overcome this crisis also were explored.