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Fundamental obligations of member States in respect of human and trade union rights (Procedure in respect of the Committee on Freedom of Association and the social partners)Description:(CFA: Digest of Decisions 2006) Subject classification: Freedom of Association Document:0102 Subject: Freedom of Association, Collective Bargaining, and Industrial Relations Display the document in: French Spanish Document No. (ilolex): 2320060102 Fundamental obligations of member States in respect of human and trade union rights 15. When a State decides to become a Member of the Organization, it accepts the fundamental principles embodied in the Constitution and the Declaration of Philadelphia, including the principles of freedom of association. (See the 1996 Digest, para. 10; 329th Report, Case No. 2177/2183, para. 630; 330th Report, Case No. 2166/2173/2180/2196, para. 288; 333rd Report, Case No. 2268, para. 732; 335th Report, Case No. 2187, para. 116; 336th Report, Case No. 1937/2027, para. 141; 338th Report, Case No. 1890, para. 179, and Case No. 2252, para. 306.) 16. The membership of a State in the International Labour Organization carries with it the obligation to respect in national legislation freedom of association principles and the Conventions which the State has freely ratified.(See 300th Report, Case No. 1793, para. 263.) 17. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring respect for the principles of freedom of association lies with the Government.(See 304th Report, Case No. 1852, para. 492.) 18. It is the responsibility of the Government to ensure the application of international labour Conventions concerning freedom of association which have been freely ratifi ed and which must be respected by all state authorities, including the judicial authorities.(See 313rd Report, Case No. 1952, para. 300; and 318th Report, Case No. 1991, para. 269.) 19. Trade union rights, like other basic human rights, should be respected no matter what the level of development of the country concerned.(See the 1996 Digest, paras. 17 and 41; and 321st report, Case No. 2031, para. 166.) 20. The Committee has referred to the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, adopted by the Governing Body of the ILO in November 1977, which states that (paragraph 46 of the Declaration, as amended in November 2000): “where governments of host countries offer special incentives to attract foreign investment, these incentives should not include any limitation of the workers’ freedom of association or the right to organize and bargain collectively”.(See the 1996 Digest, para 12.) 21. A State cannot use the argument that other commitments or agreements can justify the non-application of ratifi ed ILO Conventions.(See the 1996 Digest, para. 13; and 330th Report, Case No. 2194, para. 791.) 22. The level of protection for exercising trade union rights which results from the provisions and principles of Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 constitutes a minimum standard which may be complemented and it is desirable that other supplementary guarantees should be added resulting from the constitutional and legal system of any given country, its traditions as regards labour relations, trade union action or bargaining between the parties.(See the 1996 Digest, para. 14.) 23. Faced with allegations against one government of violations of trade union rights, the Committee recalled that a successive government in the same State cannot, for the mere reason that a change has occurred, escape the responsibility deriving from events that occurred under a former government. In any event, the new government is responsible for any continuing consequences which these events may have. Where a change of regime has taken place in a country, the new government should take all necessary steps to remedy any continuing effects which the events on which a complaint is based may have had since its accession to power, even though those events took place under its predecessor.(See the 1996 Digest, para. 18; 306th Report, Case No. 1904, para. 594; 307th Report, Case No. 1905, para. 147, and Case No. 1910, para. 165; 316th Report, Case No. 1970, para. 547; and 335th Report, Case No. 2305, para. 501.) |
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