IOE and its members bring the business perspective to ILO standards supervision

IOE global network submitted comments to the ILO Committee of Experts to bring the business perspective to ILO standards supervision.

The International Organisation of Employers (IOE), as done in previous years and together with a numerous IOE members from different regions, submitted comments to the ILO Committee of Experts (CEACR) on a variety of ILO Conventions, bringing the business perspective to ILO standards supervision.

Notably, the IOE submission on 1 September 2021 states our firm view that the ILO Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) does not contain any provision or rules on the “right to strike”.

In this submission, IOE respectfully expresses its disagreement with the Experts’ non-binding, extensive and detailed assessments on the scope and conditions of “right to strike” as ratified by ILO Member States within the context of Convention 87. Furthermore, IOE respectfully does not agree with the Committee of Experts’ requests for governments to align their law and practice with these detailed non-binding assessments on the scope and conditions of the right to strike in the context of Convention 87 as set out in the Addendum to 2020 CEACR Report.

The submission also highlighted the outcomes of the tripartite meeting in February 2015 and the statements adopted by the Government Group recognising “that the right to strike is linked to freedom of association which is a fundamental principle and right at work of the ILO".  It also noted “that the right to strike … is not an absolute right" and that "[t]he scope and conditions of this right are regulated at the national level (emphasis added).”

The IOE kindly invited the Committee of Experts to consider different views of ILO constituents on the issue of “right to strike” in the most helpful manner when examining the application in law and practice of Convention No. 87 at its meeting in November 2021.

The full IOE submission can be found in the "Resources" section. IOE has requested that the Committee of Experts forward our submission to the concerned governments and to make it publicly available on the ILO website.

Your organisation may also want to share this submission with your respective Government to inform them of the Employers’ firm and unequivocal position on this important issue.

The IOE team remains at your disposal to support your organisation’s efforts to bring the national business perspective to the ILO supervisory mechanism on any Convention ratified by your Government.

Yours sincerely,

Roberto Suárez Santos

IOE Secretary-General

María Paz Anzorreguy

Director of ILO Coordination