An Empirical Analysis of International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) Annual Surveys

I. Introduction

In recent years, the subjects of freedom of association, trade unions, and labor rights have risen to fore of global attention. Voluntary corporate codes of conduct relating to sound labor practices--especially in the textiles, apparel, and garment industries--have proliferated to counter sweatshop practices all too prevalent throughout this sector. ¹ Similarly, attempts to attach social clauses to trade agreements have gained some momentum. ² These clauses are designed to ensure that the market strategies of national producers and buyers do not sustain an international "race to the bottom" borne by local exploitation of workers and the imposition of substandard labor practices that violate their rights.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) defines workers' rights in terms of core labor standards including freedom of association rights, as well as in terms of a series of normative proscriptions against forced labor, all forms of discrimination at the workplace, and child labor. ³ Freedom of association rights, enshrined in ILO Conventions 87 and 98, establish the rights of workers to organize by forming free trade unions and to bargain collectively. ⁴ These two ILO freedom of association Conventions are universally regarded as the foundation of all workers' rights and are among the most ratified of all ILO Conventions.

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), headquartered in Brussels and representing the major "peak" association of free trade unions federations or national centers in the world, outlines freedom of association rights as follows:

all workers . . . must have the right to establish and . . . to join organisations of their own choosing without previous authorisation;

trade unions must be able, without any interference from the public authorities, to draw up their constitutions and rules, to elect their representatives in full freedom, to organise their administration and activities and to formulate their programmes;

trade unions must not be liable to be dissolved or suspended by administrative action;

trade unions must be free to establish and join federations and confederations and any such organisation must have the right to affiliate to international trade union organisations;

workers must have adequate protection against acts of anti-union discrimination regarding their employment, and trade unions must be protected against any acts of interference by employers in their establishment, functioning or administration;

trade unions must be able to bargain collectively to regulate terms and conditions of employment and all other matters affecting the livelihood of the workers;

workers and their trade unions must be able to strike and to take other industrial action. ⁵

In addition, the ICFTU links the practice of freedom of association rights with the ability to exercise and enjoy two sets of fundamental human rights. ⁶ It describes these in terms of "guarantees," first, "against arbitrary interference that is liable to impair the exercise of trade union rights," and, secondly, as "[t]he positive freedom to engage in activities necessary for the effective exercise of trade union rights[.]" ⁷ With respect to the first, the ICFTU defines guarantees against arbitrary interference as "the right to freedom and safety of the individual and freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention or exile, protection against inhuman treatment, the right to a fair trial by an independent and impartial tribunal, the non-retroactive nature of penal legislation, and protection of trade union property, including freedom from arbitrary invasions of privacy." ⁸ With respect to the second or positive freedom, the ICFTU includes "freedom of assembly, freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each country, the right to leave any country, including one's own, and to return to one's country, and freedom of opinion and expression, in particular freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." ⁹ Despite ostensibly wide acceptance of such freedom of association rights, they are...