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Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association

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Right of workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish and to join organizations3

General principle

  1. Article 2 of Convention No. 87 is designed to give expression to the principle of non-discrimination in trade union matters, and the words without distinction whatsoever used in this Article mean that freedom of association should be guaranteed without discrimination of any kind based on occupation, sex, colour, race, beliefs, nationality, political opinion, etc., not only to workers in the private sector of the economy, but also to civil servants and public service employees in general.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2620Republic of Korea362595
2620Republic of Korea367553
2620Republic of Korea374301
2625Ecuador353961
2637Malaysia3531051
2882Bahrain364302
2952Lebanon37869
2988Qatar371841
Digest: 2006209

Distinctions based on race, political opinion or nationality

  1. A law which prohibits African workers from establishing trade unions which can be registered and participate in industrial councils for the purpose of negotiating agreements and settling disputes constitutes a form of discrimination which is inconsistent with the principle accepted in the majority of countries, and embodied in Convention No. 87, that workers without distinction whatsoever should have the right to establish and, subject only to the rules of the organization concerned, to join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization. It is also inconsistent with the principle that all workers organizations should enjoy the right of collective bargaining.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006210
  1. The prohibition of registration of mixed trade unions (consisting of workers of different races) is not compatible with the generally accepted principle that workers, without distinction whatsoever, should have the right to establish and, subject only to the rules of the organizations concerned, to join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006211
  1. Workers should have the right, without distinction whatsoever, in particular without discrimination on the basis of political opinion, to join the organization of their own choosing.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2528Philippines3461453
2528Philippines3511205
2528Philippines3561145
3119Philippines378668
Digest: 2006212
  1. Workers should have the right to establish the organizations that they consider necessary in a climate of complete security irrespective of whether or not they support the social and economic model of the Government, including the political model of the country.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2528Philippines3461453
2528Philippines3511205
2528Philippines3561145
2620Republic of Korea355702
3119Philippines378668
Digest: 2006213
  1. Referring to Article 2 of Convention No. 87, the Committee recalls that on numerous occasions it has interpreted the right of freedom of association to include migrant workers.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2637Malaysia3531051
2637Malaysia36290
  1. The Committee has emphasized the importance of guaranteeing the right of migrant workers, both documented and undocumented, to organize.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2620Republic of Korea355706
  1. The right of workers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish and join organizations of their own choosing, without previous authorization, implies that anyone legally residing in the country benefits from trade union rights, including the right to vote, without any distinction based on nationality.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2952Lebanon37869
2988Qatar371842
  1. With regard to the denial of the right to organize to migrant workers in an irregular situation, the Committee recalled that all workers, with the sole exception of the armed forces and the police, are covered by Convention No. 87, and it therefore requested the Government to take the terms of Article 2 of Convention No. 87 into account in the legislation in question.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2620Republic of Korea353788
2620Republic of Korea355705
2620Republic of Korea358458
2620Republic of Korea362595
2620Republic of Korea367553
2620Republic of Korea371252
Digest: 2006214
  1. The Committee recalled the resolution concerning a fair deal for migrant workers in a global economy adopted by the ILO Conference at its 92nd Session (2004) according to which [a]ll migrant workers also benefit from the protection offered by the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up (1998). In addition, the eight core ILO Conventions regarding freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively, non-discrimination in employment and occupation, the prohibition of forced labour and the elimination of child labour, cover all migrant workers, regardless of status [para. 12].
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2620Republic of Korea353788
2620Republic of Korea355705
2620Republic of Korea358458
2620Republic of Korea371252
2988Qatar371842
  1. With regard to the granting of trade union rights to aliens, the requirement of reciprocity is not acceptable under Article 2 of Convention No. 87.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006215

Distinctions based on the nature of the contract

  1. The Committee referred to the findings of the General Survey of the Committee of Experts on the fundamental Conventions on labour rights in the light of the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization, paragraph 935, in which it is indicated that: the Committee observes that one of the main concerns expressed by trade union organizations is the adverse impact of insecure forms of employment on trade union rights and the protection of workers rights, especially in the case of repeatedly renewed short-term temporary contracts; outsourcing, which is used even by some governments in their own public services to perform legally mandated ongoing tasks; and the non-renewal of contracts for anti-union reasons. Some of these modalities often deprive workers of access to freedom of association and collective bargaining, especially when they conceal a genuine and ongoing labour relationship. Some forms of job insecurity can also deter workers from joining trade unions. The Committee wishes to emphasize the importance of examining, within a tripartite framework, the impact of these forms of employment on the exercise of trade union rights in all member States.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2899Honduras364572
  1. All workers must be able to enjoy the right to freedom of association regardless of the type of contract by which the employment relationship has been formalized.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
3042Guatemala376560
  1. The status under which workers are engaged with the employer should not have any effect on their right to join workers organizations and participate in their activities.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2556Colombia349754
2824Colombia378158
  1. All workers, regardless of their status, should be guaranteed their freedom of association rights so as to avoid the possibility of having their precarious situation taken advantage of.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2620Republic of Korea355706
  1. The criterion for determining the persons covered by the right to organize is not based on the existence of an employment relationship. Workers who do not have employment contracts should have the right to form the organizations of their choosing if they so wish.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2498Colombia349735
2498Colombia353557
2560Colombia354439
  1. All workers employed in agri-food enterprises, irrespective of the type of their employment relationship with those enterprises, should have the right to join the trade union organizations representing the interests of the workers in that sector.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2824Colombia378158

Distinctions based on occupational category

General principles

  1. All workers, without distinction whatsoever, including without discrimination in regard to occupation, should have the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2524United States of America349854
2547United States of America350801
2620Republic of Korea353788
2620Republic of Korea355705
2620Republic of Korea358458
2620Republic of Korea371252
2848Canada364425
2882Bahrain364305
2988Qatar371841
3048Panama373424
Digest: 2006216
  1. To establish a limited list of occupations with a view to recognizing the right to associate would be contrary to the principle that workers, without distinction whatsoever, should have the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006217

Public servants

  1. The standards contained in Convention No. 87 apply to all workers without distinction whatsoever, and are therefore applicable to employees of the State. It was indeed considered inequitable to draw any distinction in trade union matters between workers in the private sector and public servants, since workers in both categories should have the right to organize for the defence of their interests.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2516Ethiopia348675
2723Fiji362840
2926Ecuador370385
2961Lebanon370488
Digest: 2006218
  1. Article 2 of Convention No. 87 stipulates that workers, without distinction whatsoever, shall have the right to establish organizations of their own choosing. This implies that public administration workers should also enjoy the same right.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2363Colombia34289
  1. Public servants, like all other workers, without distinction whatsoever, have the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing, without previous authorization, for the promotion and defence of their occupational interests.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
1865Republic of Korea346741
1865Republic of Korea353698
2412Nepal3401140
2537Türkiye34719
2650Bolivia (Plurinational State of)353418
2707Republic of Korea357397
2812Cameroon362388
2988Qatar371841
3064Cambodia377210
Digest: 2006219
  1. Public employees (with the sole possible exception of the armed forces and the police, by virtue of Article 9 of Convention No. 87) should, like workers in the private sector, be able to establish organizations of their own choosing to further and defend the interests of their members.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
1865Republic of Korea346741
1865Republic of Korea353698
2430Canada343360
2431Equatorial Guinea340922
2433Bahrain340323
2433Bahrain34848
2433Bahrain35418
2516Ethiopia348675
2707Republic of Korea357397
2892Türkiye3631152
2892Türkiye3671236
2988Qatar371841
Digest: 2006220
  1. In view of the importance of the right of employees of the State and local authorities to constitute and register trade unions, the prohibition of the right of association for workers in the service of the State is incompatible with the generally accepted principle that workers, without distinction whatsoever, should have the right to establish organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006221
  1. The denial of the right of workers in the public sector to set up trade unions, where this right is enjoyed by workers in the private sector, with the result that their associations do not enjoy the same advantages and privileges as trade unions, involves discrimination as regards government-employed workers and their organizations as compared with private sector workers and their organizations. Such a situation gives rise to the question of compatibility of these distinctions with Article 2 of Convention No. 87, according to which workers without distinction whatsoever shall have the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization, as well as with Articles 3 and 8, paragraph 2, of the Convention.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2680India355887
2680India36059
2680India363154
2680India36765
Digest: 2006222
  1. There are no grounds for challenging the validity of special legal regulations which govern public servants right to organize in so far as such regulations comply with the provisions of Convention No. 87
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Related CountryReportParagraph
3031Panama371637
  1. The existence of a dispute settlement mechanism cannot justify the denial to government employees of the right to organize.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2680India36765
  1. The transfer of public sector workers from a private law system to a public law system is not problematic per se, as long as it respects the principles of freedom of association and collective bargaining.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2970Ecuador376466
  1. The Committee has underlined the need for a Government to recognize the right to organize of workers who are hired by the State on the basis of civil contracts for professional services.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2768Guatemala363641
3042Guatemala376532
  1. The members of the armed forces who can be excluded from the application of Convention No. 87 should be defined in a restrictive manner.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2432Nigeria3431027
Digest: 2006223
  1. Article 9, paragraph 1, of Convention No. 87 provides that the extent to which the guarantees provided for in this Convention shall apply to the armed forces and the police shall be determined by national laws or regulations; under this provision, it is clear that the International Labour Conference intended to leave it to each State to decide on the extent to which it was desirable to grant members of the armed forces and of the police the rights covered by the Convention, which means that States having ratified the Convention are not required to grant these rights to the said categories of persons.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2738Russian Federation3571134
2943Norway368758
3073Lithuania374501
Digest: 2006224
  1. The fact that Article 9, paragraph 1, of Convention No. 87 stipulates that the extent to which the guarantees provided for in the Convention shall apply to the armed forces and the police shall be determined by national laws and regulations cannot warrant the assumption that any limitations or exclusions imposed by the legislation of a State as regards the trade union rights of the armed forces and the police are contrary to the Convention; this is a matter which has been left to the discretion of the Members States of the ILO.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006225
  1. Article 2 of Convention No. 87 provides that workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, shall have the right to establish and to join organizations of their own choosing. While Article 9 of the Convention does authorize exceptions to the scope of its provisions for the police and the armed forces, the Committee would recall that the members of the armed forces who can be excluded should be defined in a restrictive manner. Furthermore, the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations has observed that, since this Article of the Convention provides only for exceptions to the general principle, workers should be considered as civilians in case of doubt.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006226
  1. Civilian workers in the manufacturing establishments of the armed forces should have the right to establish organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization, in conformity with Convention No. 87.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2432Nigeria3431027
2520Pakistan3481032
2520Pakistan349206
2520Pakistan353188
2520Pakistan355111
Digest: 2006227
  1. The civilian staff working at the Army Bank should enjoy the right to establish and join trade union organizations, and adequate protection against acts of anti-union discrimination, in the same way as other trade union members and leaders in the country.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006228
  1. Civilians working in the services of the army should have the right to form trade unions.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2273Pakistan344147
2454Montenegro3441065
2988Qatar371841
Digest: 2006229
  1. A provision that denies the right to set up trade unions to judges and public prosecutors is contrary to the principles of freedom of association as laid down in the relevant Conventions, according to which workers without distinction whatsoever shall have the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2892Türkiye371933
  1. Judges, like all other workers, should benefit from the right to freedom of association.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
3064Cambodia377210
  1. Local public service employees should be able effectively to establish organizations of their own choosing, and these organizations should enjoy the full right to further and defend the interests of the workers whom they represent.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
1865Republic of Korea346772
Digest: 2006230
  1. The functions exercised by firefighters do not justify their exclusion from the right to organize. They should therefore enjoy the right to organize.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
1865Republic of Korea346741
1865Republic of Korea353698
3035Guatemala373377
Digest: 2006231
  1. The right of firefighters to form and join organizations of their own choosing should also be guaranteed (although the right to collective action may be subject to restrictions or a prohibition).
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Related CountryReportParagraph
1865Republic of Korea340751
  1. Firefighters should be afforded the right under Article 2 of Convention No. 87 to establish and join the organization of their own choosing, including the right to be able to form or join higher-level organizations with a membership that is no longer restricted but may also encompass firefighters covered by general labour law.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2777Hungary360778
  1. Prison staff should enjoy the right to organize.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
1865Republic of Korea346741
1865Republic of Korea353698
2432Nigeria3431027
2609Guatemala368469
2617Colombia355503
Digest: 2006232
  1. Customs officials are covered by Convention No. 87 and therefore have the right to organize.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2432Nigeria3431027
Digest: 2006233
  1. The functions exercised by employees of customs and excise, immigration, prison and preventive services should not justify their exclusion from the right to organize on the basis of Article 9 of Convention No. 87.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2432Nigeria3431027
  1. The denial of the right to organize to workers in the labour inspectorate constitutes a violation of Article 2 of Convention No. 87.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
1865Republic of Korea346741
1865Republic of Korea353698
Digest: 2006234
  1. Teachers should have the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing, without previous authorization, for the promotion and defence of their occupational interests.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2547United States of America350801
2707Republic of Korea357397
Digest: 2006235
  1. Teachers, like all other workers, should benefit from the right to freedom of association.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
3064Cambodia377210
  1. With regard to the instructors governed by contracts for the provision of services, the Committee considered that since Convention No. 87 only allows exclusion from its scope of the armed forces and the police, the instructors in question should be able to establish, and join, organizations of their own choosing.
  1. Workers in public or private universities shall have the right to establish organizations and to join them.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2677Panama35779
  1. Teaching and research assistants in so far as they are workers should be ensured full protection of their right to organize.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2547United States of America350801
  1. The Committee requested a government to take measures to repeal a provision of the Universities Act which empowered the employer to determine the persons who could be members of academic staff associations. The Committee also recommended that consideration be given to the possibility of introducing an independent system for the designation, where necessary, of academic staff members, either through third party arbitration or some form of informal machinery.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006237
  1. Conventions No. 87 and No. 98 are applicable to locally recruited personnel in embassies.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006238
  1. The duty to apply the principles of freedom of association extends to embassies, consulates and other offices, as an integral part of the public administration. Even if the Committee were to accept a Governments argument that ILO Conventions were not applicable to embassies because they do not form part of its territory, it considers that this argument does not apply to the fundamental principles of freedom of association, respect for which it has been mandated to promote.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2437United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland3441312
  1. The total exclusion from the legislation of high-ranking public servants is a violation of their fundamental right to organize. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that such public servants obtain the right to form their own associations to defend their interests and that this category of staff is not defined so broadly as to weaken the organizations of other public employees.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
1865Republic of Korea340752
1865Republic of Korea340
  1. As concerns persons exercising senior managerial or policy-making responsibilities, the Committee is of the opinion that while these public servants may be barred from joining trade unions which represent other workers, such restrictions should be strictly limited to this category of workers and they should be entitled to establish their own organizations to defend their interests.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
1865Republic of Korea346741
1865Republic of Korea353698
1865Republic of Korea363121
Digest: 2006253
  1. The exclusion found in Convention No. 151 with regard to policy decision-makers or high-ranking public officials relates to the issue of collective bargaining and not to the right to organize which should be guaranteed to all public officials without distinction.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
1865Republic of Korea346741

Security agents

  1. Private security agents should freely be able to establish trade union organizations of their own choosing.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2423El Salvador342482
Digest: 2006239
  1. A national constitution should not have the effect of denying the right to organize of workers who need to carry arms because of the nature of their work.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2423El Salvador342482
Digest: 2006240

Agricultural workers

  1. Agricultural workers should enjoy the right to organize.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2988Qatar371841
Digest: 2006241
  1. Legislation which lays down that not less than 60 per cent of the members of a trade union must be literate is incompatible with the principle established in Convention No. 87 that workers, without distinction whatsoever, shall have the right to establish organizations of their choosing. Article 1 of Convention No. 11 confirms this principle and lays down that each Member of the International Labour Organization which ratifies this Convention undertakes to secure to all those engaged in agriculture the same rights of association and combination as to industrial workers.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006242

Plantation workers

  1. In the resolution adopted by the Plantations Committee at its First Session in 1950, it is provided that employers should remove existing hindrances, if any, in the way of the organization of free, independent and democratically controlled trade unions by plantation workers.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006243

Air and maritime transport workers

  1. Air and maritime transport workers, like all other workers, should benefit from the right to freedom of association.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
3064Cambodia377210
  1. The prohibition of trade union activities in international airlines constitutes a serious violation of freedom of association.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006244

Port workers

  1. In one case where the port employees of a country were, by custom and agreement, classified as government officials and were therefore outside the coverage of the Trade Unions Act, and the government had considered that Convention No. 87 (ratified by the country concerned) did not apply to them, the Committee pointed out that the government had assumed an international obligation to apply the Convention to workers without distinction whatsoever, and that in these circumstances the provisions of the Convention could not be modified as regards particular categories of workers because of any private or national agreement, custom or other arrangement between such categories of workers and the government.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006245

Hospital personnel

  1. The right to establish and to join organizations for the promotion and defence of workers interests without previous authorization is a fundamental right which should be enjoyed by all workers without distinction whatsoever, including hospital personnel.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2885Chile367383
Digest: 2006246

Managerial and supervisory staff

  1. It is not necessarily incompatible with the requirements of Article 2 of Convention No. 87 to deny managerial or supervisory employees the right to belong to the same trade unions as other workers, on condition that two requirements are met: first, that such workers have the right to establish their own associations to defend their interests and, second, that the categories of such staff are not defined so broadly as to weaken the organizations of other workers in the enterprise or branch of activity by depriving them of a substantial proportion of their present or potential membership.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
1865Republic of Korea346741
1865Republic of Korea353698
2717Malaysia356841
2829Republic of Korea365574
3042Guatemala376559
Digest: 2006247
  1. As regards provisions which prohibit supervisory employees from joining workers organizations, the Committee has taken the view that the expression supervisors should be limited to cover only those persons who genuinely represent the interests of employers.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2524United States of America349854
2717Malaysia356841
Digest: 2006248
  1. Limiting the definition of managerial staff to persons who have the authority to appoint or dismiss is sufficiently restrictive to meet the condition that these categories of staff are not defined too broadly.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2524United States of America349854
2717Malaysia356841
2829Republic of Korea365574
Digest: 2006249
  1. A reference in the definition of managerial staff to the exercise of disciplinary control over workers could give rise to an expansive interpretation which would exclude large numbers of workers from workers rights.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2524United States of America349854
2717Malaysia356841
Digest: 2006250
  1. An excessively broad interpretation of the concept of worker of confidence, which denies such workers their right of association, may seriously limit trade union rights and even, in small enterprises, prevent the establishment of trade unions, which is contrary to the principle of freedom of association.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2717Malaysia356841
3042Guatemala376536
Digest: 2006251
  1. Legal provisions which permit employers to undermine workers organizations through artificial promotions of workers constitute a violation of the principles of freedom of association.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006252

Self-employed workers and the liberal professions

  1. By virtue of the principles of freedom of association, all workers with the sole exception of members of the armed forces and the police should have the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing. The criterion for determining the persons covered by that right, therefore, is not based on the existence of an employment relationship, which is often non-existent, for example in the case of agricultural workers, self-employed workers in general or those who practise liberal professions, who should nevertheless enjoy the right to organize.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2423El Salvador342479
2602Republic of Korea359365
2602Republic of Korea363461
2757Peru360990
2786Dominican Republic359453
2888Poland3631084
3042Guatemala376532
Digest: 2006254
  1. The Committee requested a government to take the necessary measures to ensure that self-employed workers fully enjoyed freedom of association rights, in particular the right to join the organizations of their own choosing.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2786Dominican Republic376349
  1. It is contrary to Convention No. 87 to prevent trade unions of self-employed workers who are not subordinate to, or dependent on, a person.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2868Panama3631005

Temporary workers

  1. All workers, without distinction whatsoever, whether they are employed on a permanent basis, for a fixed term or as contract employees, should have the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2423El Salvador342479
2430Canada343360
2547United States of America350801
2556Colombia349754
2556Colombia35134
2600Colombia351572
2600Colombia355477
2602Republic of Korea350671
2602Republic of Korea355654
2637Malaysia3531051
2637Malaysia35684
2687Peru357891
2988Qatar371841
Digest: 2006255

Workers undergoing a period of work probation

  1. Workers undergoing a period of work probation should be able to establish and join organizations of their choosing, if they so wish.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2547United States of America350801
Digest: 2006256
  1. The denial of the right to organize to workers undergoing a period of work probation could raise problems with regard to the application of Convention No. 87.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2547United States of America350801
Digest: 2006257

Workers hired under training contracts

  1. Persons hired under training agreements should have the right to organize.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2547United States of America350801
2757Peru360990
2757Peru365157
Digest: 2006258
  1. The status under which workers are engaged with the employer, as apprentices or otherwise, should not have any effect on their right to join workers organizations and participate in their activities.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2547United States of America350801
2757Peru360990
2757Peru365157
Digest: 2006259

Unemployed persons

  1. The Committee does not find that granting unemployed persons solely the right to join a trade union and participate in its functioning subject to the rules of the organization concerned is contrary to the principles of freedom of association.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2888Poland3631085

Persons working under community participation programmes intended to combat unemployment

  1. Persons working under community participation programmes intended to combat unemployment are workers within the meaning of Convention No. 87 and they must have the right to organize, given that they undeniably have collective interests which must be promoted and defended.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006260

Workers in cooperatives

  1. The Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002 (No. 193), calls on governments to ensure that cooperatives are not set up or used for non-compliance with labour law or used to establish disguised employment relationships.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2589Indonesia350948
Digest: 2006261
  1. Mindful of the particular characteristics of cooperatives, the Committee considers that associated labour cooperatives (whose members are their own bosses) cannot be considered, in law or in fact, as workers organizations within the meaning of Convention No. 87, that is organizations that have as their objective to promote and defend workers interests. That being so, referring to Article 2 of Convention No. 87 and recalling that the concept of worker means not only salaried worker, but also independent or autonomous worker, the Committee has considered that workers associated in cooperatives should have the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2362Colombia350415
2448Colombia342405
2448Colombia344818
2448Colombia34950
2668Colombia354679
Digest: 2006262
  1. The Committee cannot cease consideration of the special situation of workers with regard to cooperatives, in particular as concerns the protection of their labour interests and considers that such workers should enjoy the right to join or form trade unions in order to defend those interests.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2237Colombia34876
2448Colombia342405
  1. The Committee requested a government to ensure that cooperatives were not used as a means of preventing workers from exercising trade union rights, in particular by publicizing among both members and workers of cooperatives the rights and obligations of both.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2237Colombia34876

Distributors, sales agents and subcontracted workers

  1. The Committee requested a government to develop, in consultation with the social partners concerned, appropriate mechanisms, including an agreed process for dialogue determined in advance, aimed at strengthening the protection of subcontracted/agency workers rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, thus preventing any abuse of subcontracting as a way to evade in practice the exercise by these workers of their fundamental rights.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2602Republic of Korea363457
  1. The Committee does not have the competence to express an opinion concerning the legal relationship (labour or commercial) of certain distributors and sales agents of an enterprise including on the question of whether the absence of a recognized employment relationship implies that they are not covered by the Labour Act. Nevertheless, in view of the fact that Convention No. 87 permits the exclusion only of the armed forces and the police, the sales agents in question should be able to establish organizations of their own choosing (Convention No. 87, Article 2).
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006263

Workers in export processing zones

  1. Workers in export processing zones despite the economic arguments often put forward like other workers, without distinction whatsoever, should enjoy the trade union rights provided for by the freedom of association Conventions.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2528Philippines3461446
2745Philippines3601056
2745Philippines364995
2745Philippines370673
2908El Salvador371290
Digest: 2006264
  1. The Committee recalled that the standards contained in Convention. No 87 apply to all workers "without distinction whatsoever" and that the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy provides that special incentives to attract foreign investment should not include any limitation of the workers freedom of association or the right to organize and bargain collectively and thus considered that legislation concerning export processing zones should ensure these rights.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2281Mauritius333636
  1. The ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy provides that special incentives to attract foreign investment should not include any limitation of the workers freedom of association or the right to organize and bargain collectively. The Committee considers that legal provisions on export processing zones should ensure the right to organize and bargain collectively for workers.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2745Philippines3601052
2745Philippines364982
Digest: 2006266

Domestic workers

  1. Domestic workers are not excluded from the application of Convention No. 87 and should therefore be governed by the guarantees it affords and have the right to establish and join occupational organizations.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2637Malaysia3531051
2637Malaysia35684
2637Malaysia36290
2988Qatar371841
Digest: 2006267
  1. Domestic workers, like all other workers, should benefit from the right to freedom of association.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
3064Cambodia377210

Home-based workers

  1. Home-based workers are not excluded from the application of Convention No. 87 and should therefore be governed by the guarantees it affords and have the right to establish and join occupational organizations.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2888Poland3631085
  1. Persons working from home in the social services, health and childcare sectors should be able to enjoy the provisions of the Labour Code, or enjoy genuinely equivalent rights.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2333340423
2314 340423

Workers who have been dismissed

  1. A provision depriving dismissed workers of the right to union membership is incompatible with the principles of freedom of association since it deprives the persons concerned of joining the organization of their choice. Such a provision entails the risk of acts of anti-union discrimination being carried out to the extent that the dismissal of trade union activists would prevent them from continuing their trade union activities within their organization.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
1865Republic of Korea346761
1865Republic of Korea353720
2829Republic of Korea365575
Digest: 2006268
  1. The loss of a persons trade union status as a result of dismissal for strike activities is contrary to the principles of freedom of association.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006269

Retired workers

  1. The Committee does not find that granting retired workers solely the right to join a trade union and participate in its functioning subject to the rules of the organization concerned is contrary to the principles of freedom of association.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2888Poland3631085
  1. The right to decide whether or not a trade union should represent retired workers for the defence of their specific interests is a question pertaining to the internal autonomy of all trade unions.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006270

Professional footballers

  1. The status of the professional football players as workers is undeniable. It follows that they must be covered by Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 and, hence, that they must enjoy the right to associate in defence of their interests, even if, given the specific characteristics of their work, the football players have deemed it appropriate to form a civil organization rather than a trade union. This fact does nothing to diminish the status of that civil organization as an organization representing football workers.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2481Colombia344838

Workers in small businesses

  1. If an exemption for small businesses employing ten or fewer employees from the right to form trade unions was envisaged, this would clearly be in contravention of Article 2 of Convention No. 87, which states that all workers without distinction whatsoever have the right to establish or join an organization of their own choosing.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2473United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland3461541
  1. The right to organize should not be dependent on the size of the enterprise, or the number of workers employed by it.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2988Qatar371845

Distinctions based on age

  1. With reference to Article 2 of Convention No. 87, the Committee considers that minor workers should be allowed to form or join trade union organizations of their own choosing.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
2448Colombia342405

Other distinctions

  1. The requirement for the establishment of a trade union that workers need to be employees of only one employer is a violation of the principles of freedom of association.
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Related CountryReportParagraph
Digest: 2006271
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