International condemnation

The International Labour Organisation has repeatedly condemned the UK’s industrial action laws as incompatible with ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, ratified by the UK in 1949. The UK has also been consistently criticised by the European Committee on Social Rights.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has confirmed that Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, includes both a right to bargain collectively and, implicitly, the right to strike (Demir and Baykara v Turkey [2009] IRLR 766). However, as is demonstrated by the case of RMT v UK Application No. 31045/10, the ECHR also accepts that the right to strike can be made subject to significant limitations, including a ban on secondary action.