Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association

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

Distinctions based on occupational category

Public servants

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.

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.

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.

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.