Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association

Collective bargaining15

The right to bargain collectively General principles

1. Measures should be taken to encourage and promote the full development and utilization of machinery for voluntary negotiation between employers or employers organizations and workers organizations, with a view to the regulation of terms and conditions of employment by means of collective agreements.

1. The right to bargain freely with employers with respect to conditions of work constitutes an essential element in freedom of association, and trade unions should have the right, through collective bargaining or other lawful means, to seek to improve the living and working conditions of those whom the trade unions represent. The public authorities should refrain from any interference which would restrict this right or impede the lawful exercise thereof. Any such interference would appear to infringe the principle that workers and employers organizations should have the right to organize their activities and to formulate their programmes.

1. The preliminary work for the adoption of Convention No. 87 clearly indicates that one of the main objects of the guarantee of freedom of association is to enable employers and workers to combine to form organizations independent of the public authorities and capable of determining wages and other conditions of employment by means of freely concluded collective agreements. (Freedom of Association and Industrial Relations, Report VII, International Labour Conference, 30th Session, Geneva, 1947, p. 52.)

1. One of the main objectives of workers in exercising their right to organize is to bargain collectively their terms and conditions of employment. Provisions which ban trade unions from engaging in collective bargaining therefore unavoidably frustrate the main objective and activity for which such unions are set up. This is contrary not only to Article 4 of Convention No. 98 but also Article 3 of Convention No. 87 which provides that trade unions shall have the right to exercise their activities and formulate their programmes in full freedom.

1. The Committee underlines the importance of collective disputes being conducted and resolved peacefully within the framework of collective bargaining.

1. Federations and confederations should be able to conclude collective agreements.

1. The Committee has pointed out the importance which it attaches to the right of representative organizations to negotiate, whether these organizations are registered or not.

1. The Committee stressed the importance of ensuring that the essential rules governing the system of labour relations and collective bargaining are shared, to the maximum extent possible, by the most representative workers and employers organization.