Organisers and Trade Union negotiators have cause to celebrate as ILO
Convention C098, better known as the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention 1949, was adopted sixty
five years ago (on July 1st) in Geneva, Switzerland.
This protected workers in countries who were members of the International Labour Organisation, binding them to the articles in the convention. These included protections for workers from being discriminated against for joining a trade union or dismissing them for doing so, as well as calling for measures to be taken to allow for voluntary negotiation between employers' and workers' organisations with a view to regulating terms and conditions by collective agreement. It's apt to reflect on this introduction of the right to organise and collectively bargain, considering the gains we have made as trade unions for our members and workers in the last sixty five years and to consider how relevant such rights are now as workers terms and conditions come under ever greater pressure from employers.
With the latest Department for Business, Innovation and Skills survey on Trade Union membership showing membership density and collective bargaining coverage in the North West remaining broadly the same with Merseyside a UK wide hotspot, Collective Bargaining and Organising will form a key part of our North West TUC work in the coming months. We will be holding a number of events on the need to organise, as well as marking this anniversary with a series of activities to educate reps and activists on the importance of collective bargaining and protecting collective bargaining in the light of challenges from outsourcing and fragmentation of services. These will be publicised shortly.
At the same time we are currently undertaking research into the 'State of Collective Bargaining' in the North West and we are encouraging all reps and negotiators to complete this survey which can be found here and we will be holding briefing sessions to deliver the outcome of this research in the early autumn.
This protected workers in countries who were members of the International Labour Organisation, binding them to the articles in the convention. These included protections for workers from being discriminated against for joining a trade union or dismissing them for doing so, as well as calling for measures to be taken to allow for voluntary negotiation between employers' and workers' organisations with a view to regulating terms and conditions by collective agreement. It's apt to reflect on this introduction of the right to organise and collectively bargain, considering the gains we have made as trade unions for our members and workers in the last sixty five years and to consider how relevant such rights are now as workers terms and conditions come under ever greater pressure from employers.
With the latest Department for Business, Innovation and Skills survey on Trade Union membership showing membership density and collective bargaining coverage in the North West remaining broadly the same with Merseyside a UK wide hotspot, Collective Bargaining and Organising will form a key part of our North West TUC work in the coming months. We will be holding a number of events on the need to organise, as well as marking this anniversary with a series of activities to educate reps and activists on the importance of collective bargaining and protecting collective bargaining in the light of challenges from outsourcing and fragmentation of services. These will be publicised shortly.
At the same time we are currently undertaking research into the 'State of Collective Bargaining' in the North West and we are encouraging all reps and negotiators to complete this survey which can be found here and we will be holding briefing sessions to deliver the outcome of this research in the early autumn.
Happy 65th Anniversary - and here's to the next 65 as well!
