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CCC Reference Guide on Code Implementation & Verification
Section 4. Critical issues on code implementation and verification
Freedom of association and collective bargaining
Freedom of association and the right to organize can be summarized as
the right of workers and employers to establish and to join organizations
of their own choosing without any prior authorization or government interference.
Combined with the inter-related right to bargain collectively, it also
means that trade unions and their members are free from anti-union discrimination,
and that voluntary negotiation between employer organizations and worker
organizations will be protected and promoted. The right to strike is also
widely recognized as an "intrinsic corollary" of the right of
association, meaning it cannot be seen in isolation from industrial relations
as a whole.
These rights and principles form the cornerstone of effective labor
relations systems internationally. As such, they are enshrined in various
ILO conventions, declarations, and recommendations - from the ILO's
Constitution of 1919 through the ILO's Declaration of Fundamental Principles
and Rights of 1998. International and regional human rights instruments
also refer to these inherent human rights. Indeed, the international
community's relatively consistent treatment of these rights over the
past century highlights their universal acceptance internationally.
As one labour expert put it, freedom of association is a kind of customary
rule in common law, standing outside or above the scope of any conventions
or even of membership of one or another of the international organizations.
For more information, Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective
Bargaining, A Clean Clothes Campaign Primer Focusing on the Global Apparel
Industry (October 2005). This primer includes a large number of web
links to relevant resources on this issue.
Available Resources
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Nov 2005, Freedom of Association and
The Right to Collective Bargaining - A Clean Clothes Campaign
Primer Focusing on the Global Apparel Industry
This “primer” provides background on various aspects of
freedom of association and collective bargaining, particularly in
the context of multi-stakeholder initiatives that deal with codes
of conduct.
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Sept 2005, Background document prepared for discussion groups at
the Clean Clothes Campaign workshop on:"Implementation
of Codes of Conduct, with Emphasis on Freedom of Association and
Collective Bargaining"
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March 2005, Freedom
of Association and Collective Bargaining, FOA and Collective
Bargaining Guidance Document, by ETI Trade Union Caucus. The fundamental
objective of the ETI Base Code and other ethical trading codes is
to ensure respect for the dignity of workers throughout the supply
chain. That requires realisation of their fundamental rights at
work. Section 2 of the ETI Base Code provides for freedom of association
and the right to bargain collectively. Suppliers, purchasers and
social auditors often have difficulty understanding why these fundamental
rights are important, what they entail in practice and how to assess
progress towards their attainment. This briefing document seeks
to explain clearly what freedom of association and the right to
collective bargaining mean and why they are at the heart of the
ETI alliance and its aims and objectives.
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ILO website: www.ilo.org and the
ILO's
international labour standards (ILS) website which discusses
the Committee on Freedom of Association. The ILO's supervisory bodies
-- the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and
Recommendations and the Conference Committee on the Application
of Standards -- regularly examine the application of ILS in ILO
member States. Representation and complaint procedures can also
be initiated against states that fail to comply with conventions
they have ratified. A special procedure -- the Committee on Freedom
of Association -- reviews complaints concerning violations of freedom
of association, whether or not a member State has ratified the relevant
conventions.
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June 2003, Timeline of events
in Jaqalanka Ltd dispute Sri Lanka: Freedom of Association and
the Right to Organise
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Jan 2002, Update on Freedom of
Association Campaign in the FTZs of Sri Lanka. Please find here
an update on the campaign of workers in the Free Trade Zones of
Sri Lanka to have their unions recognised.
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 March
2002, We Are Not Machines:
Freedom of Association: Nike and Adidas workers in Indonesia.
Timothy Connor March 2002. Report finds that Indonesian Nike and
Adidas workers are paid so little they are forced to separate from
their children.
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Dec 2000, No Freedom of Association
for Bangladesh's EPZ Workers
The ongoing battle between the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers
and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Government of Bangladesh
over the rights of workers to form unions, organise and collectively
bargain in the Export Processing Zones (EPZ's).
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