| Abstract [eng] |
Until the middle of the eighteenth century there were no such phenomena like strikes to be regulated by national laws of the countries. Even in the end of the eighteenth century strike actions were forbidden by national laws. Since the middle of the nineteenth century the right to strike was emphasized. When workers right to join trade unions was acknowledged, strikes became one of the means to fight to their interest. The history of legal regulation of the right to strike started at the end of XVIII century. The right to strike is recognized in international acts and in jurisprudence of international organizations. The right to strike is also recognized by the European Social Charter of 1961, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966, European Social Charter (amended). Although in the Treaty Establishing the European Community is stated, that European Community does not deal with the right to strike, Charter of fundamental social rights of European Community workers recognizes workers rights to collective actions, including strikes. The right to strike is not recognized directly in ILO conventions and recommendations. But supervisory bodies of ILO have expressed the main principals of the right to strike according to the principals of freedom of association and right to bargain collectively, which are stated in Convention concerning Freedom of association and protection of the right to organise (No. 87) and Convention concerning the Application of the principals of the right to organise and to bargain collectively. Nowadays the right to strike is recognized in all democratic countries. In some countries the right to strike is stated in their constitutions (i.e. France, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and etc.) or can be derived from constitutional right to association (i.e. USA). In all countries the order in which the right to strike can be exercised is detailed in special laws. Such laws usually specify the definition of the strike, restrictions and prohibitions on the right to strike, the order and other conditions in which the right to strike can be exercised, status and guarantees for striking workers and etc. The legal regulation of the right to strike from its complete prohibition to detail regulation has changed in almost three centuries and nowadays it is internationally recognised that the right to strike is a fundamental right of workers and of their organizations to defend their economic and social interests. |
