Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association

Right of workers and employers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing5

Right to join organizations freely

1. Workers should be able, if they so wish, to join trade unions at the branch level as well as the enterprise level at the same time.

1. Workers should be able to simultaneously join a company union and a union of groups of undertakings.

1. The impossibility, for workers, even if they have more than one employment contract, to become members of more than one trade union, in either their enterprise, industry, occupation or trade, or institution, does not comply with the principles of freedom of association, as it unduly impedes the right of workers to join organizations of their own choosing.

1. In one case where any member of a trade union who wished to resign from the union could only do so in the presence of a notary who had to verify the identity of the person concerned and attest his or her signature, the Committee considered that this requirement in itself did not constitute an infringement of trade union rights provided that this was a formality which, in practice, could be carried out easily and without delay. However, if such a requirement could, in certain circumstances, present practical difficulties for workers wishing to withdraw from a union, it might restrict the free exercise of their right to join organizations of their own choosing. In order to avoid such a situation, the Committee considered that the government should examine the possibility of introducing an alternative method of resigning from a union which would involve no practical or financial difficulties for the workers concerned.

1. The Committee urged a government to withdraw the requirement by the Seamen Employment Control Division that seafarers must sign an affidavit before leaving the country restricting their right to affiliate with or contact an international trade union organization for assistance to protect their occupational interests.