The assault on the right to strike

The right of workers to collectively withdraw their labour underpins the right to join a union and to collectively bargain the terms of employment, but the right to strike is under increasing attack, by governments and at international level through the employer offensive at the ILO. The full breadth of the growing assault on the right to strike is newly documented in a  study by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation published in the run-up to the October 7 World Day for Decent Work.

The Right to Strike Struck Down shows how the right to strike is violated in 117 of the 119 surveyed countries. And 89 of these have introduced new violations in the last 5 years!.

Without firm guarantees of the right to strike, no other democratic right is ultimately secure. Defending the right to strike is more vital than ever.