Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949
| Convention concerning the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organise and to Bargain Collectively | |
|---|---|
| Signed | July 1, 1949 |
| Location | Geneva |
| Effective | July 19, 1951 |
| Condition | 2 ratifications |
| Parties | 164 |
| Depositary | Director-General of the International Labour Office |
| Languages | French and English |
The Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention (1949) No 98 is an International Labour Organization Convention. It is one of eight ILO fundamental conventions.
Its counterpart on the general principle of freedom of association is the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention (1949) No 87.
The Preamble of Convention 98 notes its adoption on July 1, 1949. After this the Convention covers, first, the rights of union members to organise independently, without interference by employers in article 1 to 3. Second, articles 4 to 6 require the positive creation of rights to collective bargaining, and that each member state's law promotes it.
Article 1 states that workers must be protected against discrimination for joining a union, particularly conditions of employers to not join a union, dismissal or any other prejudice for having union membership or engaging in union activities. Article 2 requires that both workers and employers' organisations (i.e. trade unions and business confederations) should not be interfered in their own establishment, functioning or administration. Article 2(2) prohibits, in particular, unions being dominated by employers through "financial or other means" (such as a union being given funding by an employer, or the employer influencing who the officials are). Article 3 requires each ILO member give effect to articles 1 and 2 through appropriate machinery, such as a government watchdog.
Article 4 goes on to collective bargaining. It requires that the law promotes "the full development and utilisation of machinery for voluntary negotiation" between worker organisations and employer groups to regulation employment "by means of collective agreements." Article 5 states that national law can provide different laws for the police and armed forces, and the Convention does not affect laws that existed when an ILO member ratifies the Convention. Article 6 further gives an exemption for "the position of public servants engaged in the administration of the State".
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