LRD guides and handbook May 2015

Law at Work 2015

Chapter 5

The right to strike

[ch 5: page 114]

In 2014, the ECHR confirmed in the cases of RMT v UK, [2014] ECHR 366 and Tymoshenko v Ukraine [2014] ECHR 1016, that the right to freedom of association under Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights includes the right to strike.

Although the RMT case confirms that there is a fundamental human right to take industrial action, the case also confirmed that the UK ban on secondary or solidarity action is not a breach of Article 11.

UK Industrial action laws are explained in Chapter 9.