The UN top court secures workers’ rights after the United Nations International Court of Justice ICJ announced that “workers have a right to protest.”
The UN’s highest court on Thursday said workers and unions have a right to strike under the main international labour law treaty, in an advisory opinion that could influence labour laws around the world.
The 14-judge panel of the International Court of Justice, by 10 votes to four, said the right to strike is protected under the International Labour Organization’s 1948 Freedom of Association treaty, signed by 158 countries.
The ICJ stressed in its conclusion that the right to strike is protected but that their decision “does not entail any determination on the precise content, scope or conditions for the exercise of that right.”
The ILO, a U.N. agency that brings together governments, employers and workers to set labour standards around the world, asked for the advisory opinion in 2023.
The right to strike is the subject of a long-running dispute within the ILO’s different groups.
ICJ advisory opinions are not legally binding, but many local courts accept them as authoritative legal decisions.
The opinion could lead to changes in labour laws worldwide in countries that have so far not recognized employees’ right to strike.
In hearings before the court last year, workers’ unions and their supporters told the ICJ that strikes are a vital tool for improving labour conditions.
Employer organizations and some states had told judges that individual countries should be left to manage their own labour laws.
The ICJ is the United Nations’ highest court and deals with disputes between countries. It can give non-binding advisory opinions at the request of United Nations organs and organizations.
