Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association

Right to strike10

Responsibility for declaring a strike illegal

1. Responsibility for declaring a strike illegal should not lie with the government, but with an independent body which has the confidence of the parties involved.

1. The Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures, including proposals on legislative measures where necessary, to ensure that the responsibility for declaring a strike legal or illegal did not lie with the Government but with an independent and impartial body.

1. The responsibility for declaring a strike illegal should not lie with the Government, but with an independent and impartial body.

1. To declare a strike or work stoppage illegal, the judicial authority is best placed to act as an independent authority.

1. Final decisions concerning the illegality of strikes should not be made by the government, especially in those cases in which the government is a party to the dispute.

1. It is contrary to freedom of association that the right to declare a strike in the public service illegal should lie with the heads of public institutions, which are thus judges and parties to a dispute.

1. With reference to an official circular concerning the illegality of any strike in the public sector, the Committee has considered that such matters are not within the competence of the administrative authority.