Employers Attack on ILO System and the Rule of Law

Employer representatives at the International Labour Organisation have continued their attack on more than 50 years of legal jurisprudence, claiming that the right to strike does not exist in international law.

With the failure of their renewed attempt to coerce governments and workers representatives to reverse decades of ILO findings on the issue, employer representatives on the ILO Committee on the Application of Standards refused to endorse findings made by the Committee on a range of serious cases of rights violations, including on forced labour.

The employer’s blanket refusal to accept conclusions, which were arrived at through consensus, on cases dealing with workers’ fundamental rights to defend their interests including the right to strike comes as the annual International Labour Conference in Geneva draws towards its close on 12 June.

Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, said “Employers should respect the rule of law and recognize that the justice and stability provided by the ILO system is to everybody’s benefit. If they continue their ideological fixation with challenging international law, then they should accept that the International Court of Justice be called upon to make a ruling.”