Are workers’ rights to strike protected under the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention (ILO No. 87)?
For the first time in the United Nations’ history, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has requested an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to settle a dispute on its Committee of Experts’ interpretation of Convention No. 87.
Given its special consultative status with the ILO, the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) is among those invited to make a submission to the ICJ, which is expected to deliver its opinion in late 2024.
As the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) can provide advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorised United Nations organs and agencies of the system, including the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The ICA’s written submission on the Right to Strike advocated for upholding decent work and rights of workers and was delivered in person to the Registry of the Court by Prof Hagen Henry, Chairperson of the ICA Cooperative Law Committee (CLC), and Mr P. Santosh Kumar, ICA Director of Legislation.
In preparing the submission, the ICA consulted with CICOPA (its sectoral organisation on industrial and service cooperatives) and members of the CLC, including the ICA's Board Liaisons, Mr Giuseppe Guerini (representing CICOPA) and Ms Maria Eugenia Perez Zea (Coomeva, Colombia), a lawyer by profession.
The ICA is expected to participate in the oral hearings at the Court in September 2024. After receiving the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, the ILO's Governing Body will consider an appropriate follow-up action.
Visit www.legislation.coop to learn more about the ICA’s work on cooperative law.
Photo: Prof Hagen Henry at the International Court of Justice, or Peace Palace, in The Hague, Netherlands
