Fundamental International Labour Standards on Freedom of Association

In addition to recognition of the principle of freedom of association in the ILO's Constitution and its Declaration of Philadelphia, two Conventions -- adopted in 1948 and 1949 -- set out the essential elements of the freedom of association, the right to organise, and the importance of collective bargaining.

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, 1948 (No. 87)

Summary of the provisions

Recognition of the right to organize: The right to organize is to be granted to workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever (Article 2). Only the armed forces and the police may be exempted by national laws or regulations (Article 9).

Establishment of organizations: It must be possible for organizations to be established without previous authorization (Article 2).

Free choice of organization: Workers and employers are guaranteed the right to establish and, subject only to the rules of the organization concerned, to join organizations of their own choosing (Article 2).

Functioning of organizations: Organizations shall be free from interference by the public authorities when drawing up their constitutions and rules, electing their representatives, organizing their administration and activities and formulating their programmes (Article 4).

Dissolution or suspension: Organizations shall not be liable to be dissolved or suspended by administrative authority (Article 4).

Federations and confederations: Organizations shall have the right to establish and join federations and confederations (Article 5); the guarantees provided in Articles 2, 3 and 4 apply to these higher-grade organizations (Article 6).

International affiliation: Organizations, federations and confederations shall have the right to affiliate with international organizations of workers and employers (Article 5).

Legal personality: The acquisition of legal personality by organizations, federations and confederations shall not be made subject to conditions of such a character as to restrict the application of the provisions of Articles 2, 3 and 4 (Article 7).

Organizations and the law: In exercising the rights provided for in the Convention, workers and employers and their respective organizations shall respect the law of the land; however, the law of the land shall not be such as to impair, nor shall it be so applied as to impair, the guarantees provided for in the Convention (Article 8).

Full text of Convention No. 87

Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98)

Summary of the provisions

Anti-union discrimination: Workers shall enjoy adequate protection against acts of anti-union discrimination in respect of their employment, both at the time of entering employment and during the employment relationship. Such protection shall apply more particularly in respect of acts calculated to --

• make the employment of a worker subject to the condition that he shall not join a union or shall relinquish trade union membership;
• cause the dismissal of or otherwise prejudice a worker by reason of union membership or because of participation in union activities outside working hours or, with the consent of the employer, within working hours (Article 1).

Acts of interference: Workers' and employers' organisations shall be protected against interference by each other or each other's agents or members. In particular, acts which are designed to promote the establishment of workers' organizations under the domination of employers or employers' organizations, or to support workers' organizations by financial or other means, with the object of placing such organizations under the control of employers or employers' organisations, shall be deemed to constitute acts of interference (Article 2).

Machinery appropriate to national conditions: In view of the importance of the procedural aspect in ensuring the effective application of these standards, the Convention makes it an obligation to establish, where necessary, machinery appropriate to national conditions for the purpose of ensuring respect for these two facets of the right to organize (Article 3).

Collective bargaining: While Convention No. 98 is mainly concerned with the protection of trade unions, it is also the ILO instrument setting forth its basic principles in respect of collective bargaining: The obligation to promote this practice and the voluntary nature of such bargaining. Article 4 requires measures appropriate to national conditions to be taken, where necessary, to encourage and promote 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.

Public sector: Unlike Convention No. 87, which applies to workers in both the private and public sectors, without distinction, and accordingly also to public servants, Convention No. 98 does not deal with the position of public servants engaged in the administration of the State (Article 6).

Full text of Convention No. 98

So fundamental is the concept of freedom of association, that ILO member States agreed in 1950 that even non-ratifying States should be susceptible to a special system of supervision for infringement of associational rights.