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Most major advanced democratic countries honour collective bargaining rights of public employees. By contrast, many undemocratic countries restrict or prohibit collective bargaining by public employees.
Washington, DC (3 Mar. 2011) – Proposals in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, and other states to strip public workers of collective bargaining rights violate international labor rights standards, according to Human Rights Watch, one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights said today.
In a statement issued Friday, February 28, 2011, Alison Parker, US Program director at Human Rights Watch said, "There are real financial constraints on states, but that is no excuse to seek to eliminate fundamental rights. State governments can negotiate cost savings with workers without violating their rights in the process."
International law on the right to bargain collectively applies in both private and public workplaces. The United States championed the International Labor Organization's 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, under which the US pledged "to promote and to realize ... fundamental rights" defined in the declaration, the first of which is "freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining."
The United States is also a party to and bound by its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which guarantees everyone the right to protect his or her interests through trade union activity which includes collective bargaining.
Most major advanced democratic countries honour collective bargaining rights of public employees. For example, all EU countries allow public sector workers to bargain collectively. In 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada ordered the province of British Columbia to restore collective bargaining agreements nullified by legislation.
By contrast, many undemocratic countries restrict or prohibit collective bargaining by public employees. For example, the Egyptian government has prohibited public sector collective bargaining and allows public employee unions to exist, in name only.
At the US state level, many states respect the right to organize and bargain collectively and allow wide scope for subjects of bargaining, consistent with international standards. Other states, like North Carolina, prohibit collective bargaining altogether, in violation of international human rights norms.
Wisconsin historically has been called a "laboratory of democracy" in the American system with a strong record of honoring workers' rights of association, organizing, and bargaining. It was one of the first states to grant public employees the right to bargain collectively but is now on the verge of violating those basic rights, reports Human Rights Watch.
"Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, and other states threatening to impose harsh new restrictions on public employees' collective bargaining rights should step back from the brink," Parker said. "They should honor public employees' right to bargain collectively."
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