ILO Conventions
All workers and all employers have the right freely to form and join groups for the promotion and defence of their occupational interests. This basic human right goes together with freedom of expression. It is the basis of democratic representation and governance. Those concerned need to be able to exercise their right to influence matters that directly concern them. In other words, their voice needs to be heard and taken into account.
Workers and employers can set up, join and run their own organisations without interference from the State or one another. Of course, they have to respect the law of the land - but the law of the land, in turn, must respect the principles of freedom of association. These principles cannot be set aside for any sector of activities or group of workers.
The right freely to run their own activities means that workers' and employers' organisations can independently determine how they best wish to promote and defend their occupational interests. This covers both long-term strategies and action in specific circumstances, including recourse to strike and lock out. They can independently affiliate to international organisations and cooperate within them.
If the collective bargaining system does not produce an acceptable result and strike action is taken, certain limited categories of workers can be excluded from such action to ensure the basic safety of the population and essential functioning of the State.
Voluntary collective bargaining is a process through which employers - or their organisations - and trade unions or, in their absence, representatives freely designated by the workers discuss and negotiate their relations, in particular terms and conditions of work. Such bargaining in good faith aims at reaching mutually acceptable collective agreements.
The collective bargaining process also covers the phase before actual negotiations - information sharing, consultation, joint assessments - as well as the implementation of collective agreements. Where agreement is not reached, dispute settlement procedures ranging from conciliation through mediation to arbitration may be used.
To realise the principle of freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining in practice requires, among other things, a legal basis which guarantees that these rights are enforced; an enabling institutional framework, which can be tripartite, between the employers' and workers' organisations, or combinations of both; absence of discrimination against individuals who wish to exercise their rights to have their voice heard; and acceptance by employers' and workers' organisations as partners for solving joint problems and dealing with mutual challenges.