ILO FREEDOM OF ASSOC. CONVENTION

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                INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION
 
                        Convention No. 87
 
 
Convention concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of
the Right to Organise (1948) 
 
 
The General Conference of the International Labour
Organisation, 
 
Having been convened at San Francisco by the Governing Body of
the International Labour Office, and having met in its
Thirty-first Session on 17 June 1948; 
 
Having decided to adopt, in the form of a Convention, certain
proposals concerning freedom of association and protection of
the right to organise, which is the seventh item on the agenda
of the session; 
 
Considering that the Preamble to the Constitution of the
International Labour Organisation declares recognition of the
principle of freedom of association to be a means of improving
conditions of labour and of establishing peace; 
 
Considering that the Declaration of Philadelphia reaffirms
that freedom of expression and of association are essential to
sustained progress; 
 
Considering that the International Labour Conference, at its
Thirtieth Session, unanimously adopted the principles which
should form the basis for international regulation; 
 
Considering that the General Assembly of the United Nations,
at its Second Session, endorsed these principles and requested
the International Labour Organisation to continue every effort
in order that it may be possible to adopt one or several
international Conventions; 
 
adopts the ninth day of July of the year one thousand nine
hundred and forty-eight, the following Convention, which may
be cited as the Freedom of Association and Protection of the
Right to Organise Convention, 1948: 
 
 
                 Part I. Freedom of Association 
 
Article 1 
Each Member of the International Labour Organisation for which
this Convention is in force undertakes to give effect to the
following provisions. 
 
Article 2 
Workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, shall
have the right to establish and, subject only to the rules of
the organisation concerned, to join organisations of their own
choosing without previous authorisation. 
 
Article 3 
1. Workers' and employers' organisations shall have the right
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. 
 
2. The public authorities shall refrain from any interference
which would restrict this right or impede the lawful exercise
thereof.  
 
Article 4 
Workers' and employers' organisations shall not be liable to
be dissolved or suspended by administrative authority. 
 
Article 5 
Workers' and employers' organisations shall have the right to
establish and join federations and confederations and any such
organisation, federation or confederation shall have the right
to affiliate with international organisations of workers and
employers. 
 
Article 6 
The provisions of Articles 2, 3 and 4 hereof apply to
federations and confederations of workers' and employers'
organisations. 
 
Article 7 
The acquisition of legal personality by workers' and
employers' organisations, federations and confederations shall
not be made subject to conditions of such a character as to
restrict the application of the provisions of Articles 2, 3
and 4 hereof. 
 
Article 8 
1. In exercising the rights provided for in this Convention
workers and employers and their respective organisations, like
other persons or organised collectivities, shall respect the
law of the land. 
 
2. The law of the land shall not be such as to impair, nor
shall it be so applied as to impair, the guarantees provided
for in this Convention. 
 
Article 9 
1. The extent to which the guarantees provided for in this
Convention shall apply to the armed forces and the police
shall be determined by national laws or regulations. 
 
2. In accordance with the principle set forth in paragraph 8
of article 19 of the Constitution of the International Labour
Organisation the ratification of this Convention by any Member
shall not be deemed to affect any existing law, award, custom
or agreement in virtue of which members of the armed forces or
the police enjoy any right guaranteed by this Convention. 
 
Article 10 
In this Convention the term "organisation" means any
organisation of workers or of employers for furthering and
defending the interests of workers or of employers. 
 
 
          Part II. Protection of the Right to Organise 
 
Article 11 
Each Member of the International Labour Organisation for which
this Convention is in force undertakes to take all necessary
and appropriate measures to ensure that workers and employers
may exercise freely the right to organise. 
 
 
               Part III. Miscellaneous Provisions 
 
Article 12 
1.In respect of the territories referred to in article 35 of
the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation as
amended by the Constitution of the International Labour
Organisation Instrument of Amendment 1946, other than the
territories referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5 of the said
article as so amended, each Member of the Organisation which
ratifies this Convention shall communicate to the Director-
General of the International Labour Office as soon as possible
after ratification a declaration stating:  
 a) the territories in respect of which it undertakes that the
provisions of the Convention shall be applied without
modification;  
 b) the territories in respect of which it undertakes that the
provisions of the Convention shall be applied subject to
modifications, together with details of the said
modifications; 
 c) the territories in respect of which the Convention is
inapplicable and in such cases the grounds on which it is
inapplicable; 
 d) the territories in respect of which it reserves its
decision. 
 
2. The undertakings referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b)
of paragraph 1 of this Article shall be deemed to be an
integral part of the ratification and shall have the force of
ratification. 
 
3. Any Member may at any time by a subsequent declaration
cancel in whole or in part any reservations made in its
original declaration in virtue of subparagraphs (b), (c) or
(d) of paragraph 1 of this Article. 
 
4. Any Member may, at any time at which the Convention is
subject to denunciation in accordance with the provisions of
Article 16, communicate to the Director-General a declaration
modifying in any other respect the terms of any former
declaration and stating the present position in respect of
such territories as it may specify. 
 
Article 13 
1. Where the subject matter of this Convention is within the
self-governing powers of any non-metropolitan territory, the
Member responsible for the international relations of that
territory may, in agreement with the Government of the
territory, communicate to the Director-General of the
International Labour Office a declaration accepting on behalf
of the territory the obligations of this Convention. 
 
2. A declaration accepting the obligations of this Convention
may be communicated to the Director-General of the
International Labour Office:  
 a) by two or more Members of the Organisation in respect of
any territory which is under their joint authority; or 
 b) by any international authority responsible for the
administration of any territory, in virtue of the Charter of
the  United Nations or otherwise, in respect of any such
territory. 
 
3. Declarations communicated to the Director-General of the
International Labour Office in accordance with the preceding
paragraphs of this Article shall indicate whether the
provisions of the Convention will be applied in the territory
concerned without modifications or subject to modification;
when the declaration indicates that the provisions of the
Convention will be applied subject to modifications it shall
give details of the said modifications. 
 
4. The Member, Members or international authority concerned
may at any time by a subsequent declaration renounce in whole
or in part the right to have recourse to any modification
indicated in any former declaration. 
 
5. The Member, Members or international authority concerned
may, at any time at which this Convention is subject to
denunciation in accordance with the provisions of Article 16,
communicate to the Director-General a declaration modifying in
any other respect the terms of any former declaration and
stating the present position in respect of the application of
the Convention. 
 
 
                    Part IV. Final Provisions 
 
Article 14 
   The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be
communicated to the Director-General of the International
Labour Office for registration.  
 
Article 15 
   1. This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members
of the International Labour Organisation whose ratifications
have been registered with the Director-General. 
 
   2. It shall come into force twelve months after the date on
which the ratifications of two Members have been registered
with the Director-General.  
 
   3. Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for
any Member twelve months after the date on which its
ratifications has been registered.  
 
Article 16 
   1. A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce
it after the expiration of ten years from the date on which
the Convention first comes into force, by an Act communicated
to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for
registration. Such denunciation should not take effect until
one year after the date on which it is registered. 
 
   2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention and which
does not, within the year following the expiration of the
period of ten years mentioned in the preceding paragraph,
exercise the right of denunciation provided for in this
Article, will be bound for another period of ten years and,
thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiration of
each period of ten years under the terms provided for in this
Article. 
 
Article 17 
   1. The Director-General of the International Labour Office
shall notify all Members of the International Labour
Organisation of the registration of all ratifications,
declarations and denunciations communicated to him by the
Members of the Organisation. 
 
   2. When notifying the Members of the Organisation of the
registration of the second ratification communicated to him,
the Director-General shall draw the attention of the Members
of the Organisation to the date upon which the Convention will
come into force. 
 
Article 18 
   The Director-General of the International Labour Office
shall communicate to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations for registration in accordance with Article 102 of the
Charter of the United Nations full particulars of all
ratifications and acts of denunciation registered by him in
accordance with the provisions of the preceding Articles. 
 
Article 19 
   At the expiration of each period of ten years after the
coming into force of this Convention, the Governing Body of
the International Labour Office shall present to the General
Conference a report on the working of this Convention and
shall examine the desirability of placing on the agenda of the
Conference the question of its revision in whole or in part. 
 
Article 20 
   1. Should the Conference adopt a new Convention revising
this Convention in whole or in part, then, unless the new
Convention otherwise provides: 
 
a) the ratification by a Member of the new revising Convention
shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of this
Convention, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 16
above, if and when the new revising Convention shall have come
into force; 
 
b) as from the date when the new revising Convention comes
into force this Convention shall cease to be open to
ratification by the Members. 
   2. This Convention shall in any case remain in force in its
actual form and content for those Members which have ratified
it but have not ratified the revising Convention. 
 
Article 21 
   The English and French versions of the text of this
Convention are equally authoritative. 
 
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