UN court rules right to strike protected under key ILO treaty

The top United Nations court ruled Thursday that workers and unions have the right to strike under a key international treaty, an opinion that could shape labor laws worldwide.

International Court of Justice (ICJ) President Yuji Iwasawa announced the court “of the opinion that the right to strike of workers and their organisations is protected” under the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) 1948 Freedom of Association treaty.

The ruling came in a 10-4 decision by the court’s 14-member panel.

The ILO, a UN agency setting global labor standards, requested the advisory opinion in November 2023 amid a dispute between workers’ and employers’ representatives over whether the treaty – known as Convention 87 – implicitly protects the right to strike.

Although ICJ judges affirmed the treaty enshrines such a right, they stressed the opinion’s narrow scope.

The conclusion “does not entail any determination on the precise content, scope or conditions for the exercise of that right,” Iwasawa said.

While the ruling is nonbinding, many local courts regard ICJ opinions as authoritative, and labor advocates expect it to influence countries that have not recognized the right to strike.

Convention 87 has been ratified by 158 countries.

The treaty establishes protections for workers’ and employers’ freedom to organize, establish and join federations.

In its 43-page advisory opinion, the ICJ reasoned that strikes are “one of the main activities engaged in and tools used by workers and their organisations to promote their interests and improve conditions of labour.”

“At the same time, freedom of association is instrumental in facilitating workers’ organisations to take collective action to further and defend the interests of their members, including through the exercise of the right to strike,” the opinion continued.

The right to strike is thus “in line with the object and purpose” of the convention, the judges said.

The ruling ends what the ILO described Thursday as “a long-standing difference of views” over Convention 87 among employers and workers.

Asking the ICJ to resolve such a disagreement was an “exceptionally rare” move, the organization added.

Harold Koh, representing the International Trade Union Confederation, told the court the case was “about more than legal abstractions.”

“It will affect the real rights of tens of millions of working people around the world,” he said.