An almost three year long dispute about guest workers right to unionize and take part in strikes now gets the International Labour Organization (ILO) call for rethinking the so called “Laval-Law” in Sweden.
“Independent ILO lawyers agree with Swedish trade unions LO and TCO that the Laval Law contradicts the free association right,” reported the legal newspaper Lag&Avtal 27 February
The expert group at ILO, which is part of the UN system, has now advised the Swedish government to rethink the law. It also advised the government to compensate the construction workers and electrician unions for the damages they had to pay out to the company Laval in a dispute.
The incident gave the limitations on guest workers’ right to be included in collective bargaining agreements its name - “The Laval Law”.
The mostly blue-collar Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) and its white-collar colleagues at TCO reported the ruling to the ILO in 2010, claiming it did not respect international treaties on the freedom of association.
The expert opinion was welcomed by Swedish unionists. “This is a huge success, now the ball is in the government’s court,” TCO chief legal head Samuel Engblom told Lag&Avtal.
The Laval Law puts limits on Swedish unions’ right to strike action in order for guest workers to be included in collective bargaining deals. The precedent flies in the face of ILO convention 87, its legal experts noted.
“The committee currently looking at Laval will now have a big incentive to look at ILO conventions and not just EU law,” said Engblom.
Source: TT/The Local/