Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association

Right to strike10

Types of strike action

1. Generally, a strike is a temporary work stoppage (or slowdown) wilfully effected by one or more groups of workers with a view to enforcing or resisting demands or expressing grievances, or supporting other workers in their demands or grievances.

1. Regarding various types of strike action denied to workers (wild-cat strikes, tools-down, go-slow, working to rule and sit-down strikes), the Committee considers that these restrictions may be justified only if the strike ceases to be peaceful.

1. The Committee has considered that the occupation of plantations by workers and by other persons, particularly when acts of violence are committed, is contrary to Article 8 of Convention No. 87. It therefore requested the Government, in future, to enforce the evacuation orders pronounced by the judicial authorities whenever criminal acts are committed on plantations or at places of work in connection with industrial disputes.

1. In a case where the justice system qualified the act of reporting to work with shaved heads or cropped hair styles as a strike action and a violation of the grooming standards of the hotel, the Committee, while taking into account the concerns expressed by the hotel management with regard to its image, considered that equating the mere expression of discontent, peacefully and lawfully exercised, with a strike per se resulted in a violation of the freedom of association and expression.