On 18 February the ITUC is running a day of action to try to stop the international employers campaign to undermine the ILO Conventions on Freedom of Association as it relates to the right to strike. We have kept you informed of this attack which resulted in the sending home of workers from the 2012 ILO conference without a hearing at the Committee on the Application of Standards as part of what was effectively and employers strike and refusal to hear the cases. At that conference (which was full of grief as brave workers were stunned and bewildered at the failure of their cases to be heard), we were told by the employers organisations that they would not support the years of accepted jurisprudence that the Convention on Freedom of Association included a Right to Strike. Bus NZ was particularly thanked by the employer spokesperson for their close support of the strategy.
This action has continued and the supervisory mechanisms of the ILO that hear cases and provide recommendations on breaches of the conventions have effectively wound to a standstill on any cases involving strike action. You will know workers around the world continue to be arrested and killed for striking and the ILO has a proud history of applying pressure to Governments in countries where this happens. This attack, if successful, would have major ramifications on all international cores labour standards and human rights. It would undermine the system that supervisors complinance with the conventions including on the NZ CTU case regarding our latest employment law changes which are in breach of these ILO standards.
In support of this campaign we have launched an online petition to the top 20 companies who belong to Bus NZ. We have written to these companies prior advising them of the campaign. We also wrote to them about this issue in 2012 but Bus NZ has not changed its position. It is time to up the pressure. We have also written to the Minister of Labour to ask for his support to protect the ILO system.
Please circulate the link below which includes the online petition.
http://union.org.nz/our-right-to-strike
