Week 7

• Collective bargaining is a negotiation process between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate labor wages, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and employee rights
• Rights connected to collective bargaining and freedom of association are outlined in the ILO Constitution, Declaration of Philadelphia, and Declaration on Fundamental principles and rights at work
• ILO Conventions related to freedom of association and collective bargaining include:

  • Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention No. 87, 1948
  • Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention No. 98, 1949
  • Workers' Representatives Convention No. 135, 1971
  • Rural Workers' Organisations Convention No. 141, 1975
  • Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention No. 151, 1978
• The right to establish and join organizations without previous authorization is a key aspect of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention No. 87, 1948
• The right to strike is not absolute and is subject to restrictions, such as in police and armed forces, public servants, essential services, and during acute national/local crises
• Prerequisites for a strike include prior conciliation, mediation, and arbitration, advance notice, and a quorum for calling a strike
• Collective bargaining is a process that leads to an agreement between employers and employees, with its scope outlined in ILO Convention No. 154 and Recommendation 91
• Forced labor refers to situations where individuals are coerced to work through violence, intimidation, or more subtle means like accumulated debt or threats
• Forced labor, contemporary forms of slavery, debt bondage, and human trafficking are closely related terms, although not identical in a legal sense
• Forced labor is defined by the ILO as work or service exacted from a person under the menace of any penalty and for which the person has not offered themselves voluntarily
• Exceptions to forced labor include compulsory military service, normal civic obligations, prison labor, emergency situations, and minor communal services
• Forced labor is a penal offense, and there is an obligation to construct strict enforcement mechanisms according to Art. 25
• ILO Convention No. 29 (1930) aims to suppress the use of forced or compulsory labor in all its forms within the shortest possible period
• Forced labor involves work or service exacted under the menace of any penalty and without the person offering themselves voluntarily
• Forced labor includes a wide range of penalties used to compel someone to work, and it must be done involuntarily
• ILO Convention No. 105 (1957) reaffirms Convention No. 29 and highlights specific categories of forced labor as a fundamental convention
• The 2014 Protocol to the Forced Labor Convention No. 29 aims to address the changing context and forms of forced or compulsory labor, including trafficking in persons for forced labor
• ILO Recommendation 203 provides preventive measures, protective actions, remedies, and enforcement strategies to combat forced labor
• The ECHR Article 4 prohibits slavery and forced labor, with exceptions for certain circumstances like military service or emergencies