Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association

Right of employers and workers organizations to establish federations and confederations and to affiliate with international organizations of employers and workers12

Establishment of federations and confederations

1. The principle laid down in Article 2 of Convention No. 87 that workers and employers shall have the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing implies for the organizations themselves the right to establish and join federations and confederations of their own choosing.

1. The acquisition of legal personality by workers organizations, federations and confederations shall not be made subject to conditions of such a nature as to restrict the exercise of the right to establish and join federations and confederations of their own choosing.

1. A provision whereby a minister may, at his or her discretion, approve or reject an application for the creation of a general confederation is not in conformity with the principles of freedom of association.

1. The question as to whether a need to form federations and confederations is felt or not is a matter to be determined solely by the workers and their organizations themselves after their right to form them has been legally recognized.

1. The requirement of an excessively high minimum number of trade unions to establish a higher-level organization conflicts with Article 5 of Convention No. 87 and with the principles of freedom of association.

1. Legislation which prevents the establishment of federations and confederations bringing together the trade unions or federations of different activities in a specific locality or area or on a regional or national basis is incompatible with Article 5 of Convention No. 87 and the principles of freedom of association.

1. When only one confederation of workers may exist in a country, and the right to establish federations is limited to such federations as may be established by the unions mentioned in the law, as well as such new unions as might be registered with the consent of the minister, this is incompatible with Article 5 of Convention No. 87.

1. Importance has been attached by the Committee to the right to form federations grouping unions of workers engaged in different occupations and industries. In this connection, the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations pointed out, in respect of a provision of national law prohibiting organizations of public officials from adhering to federations or confederations of industrial or agricultural organizations, that it seemed difficult to reconcile this provision with Article 5 of Convention No. 87. It indicated, in the same observation, that while the legislation permitted organizations of public officials to federate among themselves and that the resulting federation would be the only one recognized by the State, these provisions did not appear to be compatible with Article 6 of the Convention, which refers to Article 2 of the Convention with respect to the establishment of federations and confederations and adhesion to these higher organizations. According to these provisions of the Convention, trade union organizations should have the right to establish and to join federations or confederations of their own choosing without previous authorization.

1. A provision prohibiting the establishment of federations by unions in different departments constitutes a restriction of the right of workers organizations to establish federations and confederations, recognized by Article 5 of Convention No. 87.

1. Conditions laid down by law for the establishment of federations, and in particular a condition that founding unions based in different provinces must first ask permission (which may be refused) from the minister, are incompatible with the generally accepted principles of freedom of association, which include the right of trade unions to establish and join federations of their own choosing.

1. The Committee recalls that legislation which prevents the establishment of federations and confederations bringing together the trade unions or federations of different activities in a specific locality or area or on a regional or national basis would not be in conformity with the principles of freedom of association.

1. The preferential rights granted to the most representative organizations should not give them the exclusive right to establish and join federations.

Affiliation with federations and confederations

1. A workers organization should have the right to join the federation and confederation of its own choosing, subject to the rules of the organizations concerned, and without any previous authorization. It is for the federations and confederations themselves to decide whether or not to accept the affiliation of a trade union, in accordance with their own constitutions and rules.

1. In a case in which a confederation had been compelled to accept new members by the government, the Committee considered that actions of this kind may allow the authorities to influence the result of elections or the actions of a trade union by direct interference with the composition of its constituents.

1. All workers should have the right to engage freely in the defence and promotion of their economic and social interests through the central organizations of their own choice.

1. Organizations of public servants should be able to affiliate, if they so choose, to federations or confederations of workers in the private sector if the rules of the latter so permit.

1. It seems difficult to reconcile with Article 5 of Convention No. 87 any provision prohibiting organizations of public officials from adhering to federations or confederations of industrial organizations.

1. A governments refusal to permit agricultural unions to affiliate with a national centre of workers organizations comprising industrial unions is incompatible with Article 5 of the Convention.

1. The prohibition of the direct affiliation of certain persons to federations and confederations is contrary to the principles of freedom of association. It is for these organizations themselves to determine what the rules relating to their membership should be.

1. It is for the statutes of the federations of a branch of activity to determine the number and type of organizations of which it is comprised.

Rights of federations and confederations

1. In order to defend the interests of their members more effectively, workers and employers organizations should have the right to form federations and confederations of their own choosing, which themselves should enjoy the various rights accorded to first-level organizations, in particular as regards their freedom of operation, activities and programmes.

1. It is for union by-laws to determine the conditions of election of trade union officials.

Affiliation with international organizations of workers and employers

General principles

1. International trade union solidarity constitutes one of the fundamental objectives of any trade union movement and underlies the principle laid down in Article 5 of Convention No. 87 that any organization, federation or confederation shall have the right to affiliate with international organizations of workers and employers.

1. Unions and confederations should be free to affiliate with international federations or confederations of their own choosing without intervention by the political authorities.

1. Article 5 of Convention No. 87 as is clear from the preparatory work on the instrument merely gives expression to the fact that workers or employers are united by a solidarity of interests, a solidarity which is not limited either to one specific undertaking or even to a particular industry, or even to the national economy, but extends to the whole international economy. Furthermore, the right to organize corresponds to the practice followed by the United Nations and the International Labour Organization, both of which have formally recognized international organizations of workers and employers by associating them directly with their own activities.

1. The Committee has emphasized the importance that it attaches to the fact that no obstacle should be placed in the way of the affiliation of workers organizations, in full freedom, with any international organization of workers of their own choosing.

1. The Committee has considered that there might be justification for one complainants contention that the principle of the right of workers organizations to affiliate with international organizations of workers includes by implication the right to disaffiliate from an international organization.

Intervention by the public authorities

1. Legislation which requires that government permission be obtained for the international affiliation of a trade union is incompatible with the principle of free and voluntary affiliation of trade unions with international organizations.

1. When a national organization seeks to affiliate with an international organization of workers, the conditions which the national organization attaches to its application and the question as to whether it agrees or disagrees with the international organization in its attitude to any political matter are matters which concern only the respective organizations themselves; while disagreement may influence the national organization in deciding whether to seek, maintain or withdraw from international affiliation, it should not form a basis for government intervention.

Consequences of international affiliation

1. Any assistance or support that an international trade union organization might provide in setting up, defending or developing national trade union organizations is a legitimate trade union activity, even when the trade union tendency does not correspond to the tendency or tendencies within the country.

1. Legislation which provides for the banning of any organization where there is evidence that it is under the influence or direction of any outside source, and also for the banning of any organization where there is evidence that it receives financial assistance or other benefits from any outside source, unless such financial assistance or other benefits be approved by and channeled through government - to the extent that it applies to the right of international affiliation of trade unions - is incompatible with the principles set out in Article 5 of Convention No. 87.

1. The granting of advantages resulting from the international affiliation of a trade union organization must not conflict with the law, it being understood that the law should not be such as to render any such affiliation meaningless.

1. Legislation prohibiting the acceptance by a national trade union of financial assistance from an international organization of workers to which it is affiliated infringes the principles concerning the right to affiliate with international organizations of workers.

1. Trade unions and employers organizations should not be required to obtain prior authorization to receive international financial assistance in their trade union or entrepreneurial activities.

1. All national organizations of workers and employers should have the right to receive financial assistance from international organizations of workers and employers respectively, whether or not they are affiliated to the latter.

1. The principle that national organizations of workers should have the right to affiliate with international organizations carries with it the right, for these organizations, to make contact with one another and, in particular, to exchange their trade union publications.

1. The right to affiliate with international organizations of workers implies the right, for the representatives of national trade unions, to maintain contact with the international trade union organizations with which they are affiliated, to participate in the activities of these organizations and to benefit from the services and advantages which their membership offers.

1. It is a fully legitimate trade union activity to seek advice and support from other well-established trade union movements in the region to assist in defending or developing the national trade union organizations, even when the trade union tendency does not correspond to the tendency or tendencies within the country, and visits made in this respect represent normal trade union activities.

1. The right of national trade unions to send representatives to international trade union congresses is a normal corollary of the right of those national organizations to join international workers organizations.

1. Leaders of organizations of workers and employers should enjoy appropriate facilities for carrying out their functions, including the right to leave the country when their activities on behalf of the persons they represent so require; moreover, the free movement of these representatives should be ensured by the authorities.

1. Visits to affiliated national trade union organizations and participation in their congresses are normal activities for international workers organizations, subject to the provisions of national legislation with regard to the admission of foreigners.

1. The formalities to which trade unionists and trade union leaders are subject in seeking entry to the territory of a State, or in attending to trade union business there, should be based on objective criteria and be free of anti-union discrimination.

1. The Committee has recognized that the refusal to grant a passport (or visa) to foreigners, or more generally the right to exclude persons from national territory, are matters which concern the sovereignty of a State.

1. Although it recognizes that the refusal to grant visas to foreigners is a matter which falls within the sovereignty of the State, the Committee has requested a government to ensure that the formalities required of international trade unionists to enter the country are based on objective criteria free of anti-trade unionism.

1. The formalities required before trade unionists can leave a country in order to take part in international meetings should be based on objective criteria that are free of anti-union discrimination, so as not to involve the risk of infringing the right of trade union organizations to send representatives to international trade union congresses.

1. In general, the authorities should not withhold official documents by reason of a persons membership in a workers or employers organization, as these documents are sometimes a prerequisite for important activities, for instance obtaining or maintaining employment. This is even more essential where persons hold a position in that organization, inasmuch as the refusal may prevent them from exercising their duties, such as travelling to an official meeting.

1. The imposition of sanctions, such as banishment or control of overseas travel for trade union reasons, constitutes a violation of freedom of association.

1. Participation in the work of international organizations must be based on the principle of the independence of the trade union movement. Within the framework of this principle, full freedom should be given to representatives of trade unions to take part in the work of the international workers unions to which the organizations they represent are affiliated.

1. In all cases governments have the right to take the necessary measures to guarantee public order and national security. This includes ascertaining the purpose of visits to the country by persons against whom there are grounds for suspicion from this point of view. The authorities should verify each specific case as quickly as possible and should aim on the basis of objective criteria at ascertaining whether or not there exist facts which might have real repercussions on public order and security. It would be desirable, in situations of this kind, to seek an agreement through appropriate discussions in which the authorities, as well as the leaders and organizations concerned, may clarify their positions.

Participation in ILO meetings

1. The Committee strongly regretted that the arrest of a trade unionist as a result of an event arising directly from a strike should have had the effect of preventing a worker member from attending a session of the Governing Body; it also considered that, once proceedings have been initiated, the independence of the judiciary cannot be invoked by the government as an excuse for the action which it itself has taken. The Committee therefore drew attention to the importance which the Governing Body attaches to the principle set forth in article 40 of the Constitution that members of the Governing Body shall enjoy such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the independent exercise of their functions.

1. It is important that no delegate to any organ or Conference of the ILO, and no member of the Governing Body, should in any way be hindered, prevented or deterred from carrying out their functions or from fulfilling their mandate.

1. It is the duty of a government to refrain from taking measures calculated to hinder delegates to an ILO Conference in the exercise of their functions, and to use its influence and take all reasonable steps to ensure that such delegates are in no way prejudiced by their acceptance of functions as delegates or by their conduct as delegates; measures on other grounds should not be envisaged against delegates in their absence, but should await their return so that they may be in a position to defend themselves.

1. A government decision which requires workers representatives wishing to attend an international meeting outside the country to obtain permission from the authorities in order to leave the country is not, in the case of members of the Governing Body, compatible with the principles set forth in article 40 of the ILO Constitution.

1. In general, the refusal by a State to grant leave to one of its officials holding trade union office to attend an advisory meeting organized by the ILO does not constitute an infringement of the principles of freedom of association, unless this refusal is based on the trade union activities or functions of the person concerned.

1. Participation as a trade unionist in symposia organized by the ILO is a legitimate trade union activity, and a government should not refuse the necessary exit papers for this reason.

1. The Committee has reiterated the special importance it attaches to the right of workers and employers representatives to attend and to participate in meetings of international workers and employers organizations and of the ILO.

1. Apart from the specific protection granted in conformity with article 40 of the Constitution of the ILO to members of the Governing Body so as to enable them to carry out their functions vis-à-vis the Organization in full independence, participation as a trade unionist in meetings organized by the ILO is a fundamental trade union right. It is therefore incumbent on the government of any member State of the ILO to abstain from any measure which would prevent representatives of a workers or employers organization from exercising their mandate in full freedom and independence. In particular, a government must not withhold the documents necessary for this purpose.

1. The Committee considers that the prohibition on any individual, whether worker or employer, from participating more than once as a delegate or adviser to international labour conferences violates the principles of freedom of association, and particularly Articles 3 and 5 of Convention No. 87.