Balancing the Right to Strike and Other Public Interests: The Importance of the Status of the Right to Strike

Authors

Petra Herzfeld Olsson, Faculty of Law, Stockholm University
Shae McCrystal, University of Sydney Law School

Abstract

The regulation of strike action involves the balancing of competing public interests – the benefits derived from collective bargaining and the right to strike and others including public safety, health, welfare, and industrial peace. We explore how this balancing act plays out in the legal systems of two national jurisdictions, Australia and Sweden, and through the ILO principles on freedom of association as developed by the ILO’s supervisory bodies. We seek to understand how different regulatory approaches to these competing public interests produces different outcomes and the potential consequences where protecting other public interests is prioritised over the right to strike.

Recommended Citation

Herzfeld Olsson, Petra and McCrystal, Shae (2025) "Balancing the Right to Strike and Other Public Interests: The Importance of the Status of the Right to Strike," Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal: Vol. 45: Iss. 2, Article 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.60082/2819-2567.1038
Available at: https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cllpj/vol45/iss2/6

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2023, January 24). Employee earnings and hours, May [Press release]. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/earnings-and-working-conditions/employee-earnings-and-hours-australia/latest-release

Bennett, L. (1994). Making labour law in Australia: Industrial relations, politics and law. Federation Press.

Besson, S. (2014). Justifications. In D. Moeckli, S. Shah, & S. Sivakumaran (Eds.), International human rights law (2nd ed., pp.34-52). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/he/9780199654574.003.0005

Bogg, A. & Ewing, K. (2012). A (Muted) voice at work? Collective bargaining in the Supreme Court of Canada. Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal 33(3), 379-416.

Bull, T. & Cameroon, I. (2023). The evolution and Gestalt of the Swedish constitution, in A. von Bogdany, P. M. Huber, & S. Ragone (Eds.), The Max Planck handbooks in European public law (pp. 601-637). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198726425.003.0012

Cazes, S., Khatiwada, S., & Malo, M. (2013). Employment protection and collective bargaining: Beyond the deregulation agenda" (Working Paper No. 133). International Labour Office.

Davidov, G. (2004). Collective bargaining laws: Purpose and scope. International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations 20(1), 81-106. https://doi.org/10.54648/ijcl2004005

Deakin, S. & Wilkinson, F. (2000). Labour law and economic theory: A reappraisal. In H. Collins,

P. Davies, & R. Rideout (Eds.), The legal regulation of the employment relation (pp. 29-62). Kluwer Law.

Forsyth, A. & McCrystal, S. (2023). Reforming Australia's bargaining and strike laws to maximise worker power. UNSW Law Review 46(4), 1105-1103. https://www.unswlawjournal.unsw.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Issue-464-01-Forsyth-and-McCrystal.pdf

Forsyth, A. & Stewart, A. (2013). Of kamikazes and madmen: The fallout from the Qantas industrial dispute. Melbourne University Law Review 36(3), 785-830.

Glavå, M. & Hansson, M. (2023). Arbetsrätt. Studentlitteratur.

Grimes, W. (2001). The Sherman Act's unintended bias against Lilliputians: Small players collective action as a counter to relational market power. Antitrust Law Journal 69(1), 195-248.

Harcourt, M., Gall, G. & Wilson, M. (2023). The effects of public goods framing for a union default policy. Economic and Industrial Democracy 44(4), 1197-1221. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0143831X221120526

Hayter, S. (2011). Conclusion. In S. Hayter (Ed.), The role of collective bargaining in the global economy: Negotiating for social justice (pp. 305-315). Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781849809832.00018

Herzfeld Olsson, P. (2023). The same, only different: How to make Swedish labour law work for labour migrants. In R. Zahn & B. Ryan (Ed.), Migrant labour and the reshaping of employment law (pp. 37-60). Bloomsbury. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509919178.ch-002

Higgins, H. B. (2015). A new province for law and order. Harvard Law Review 29(1), 13-39. https://doi.org/10.2307/1325734

Hinn, E., Lennart, A., Carl Johan, K. (2015). Offentlig arbetsrätt: En kommentar till lagreglerna om statlig och kommunal anställning, Norstedts juridik.

Hussain, W. & Kohn, M. (2024). The common good. In E. N. Zalt & U. Nidelman (Eds.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Fall 2024 ed.). https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2024/entries/common-good/

International Labour Office. (2018). Freedom of association: Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association (6th ed.). International Labour Office.

International Labour Office. (1994). Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining, General Survey of the Reports on the Freedom of Association and the Right to Organize Convention (No. 87), 1948 and the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention (No. 98), 1949, Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, Report III (Part 4B), International Labour Conference, 81st Session.

International Labour Organization (ILO). (2023). Request for an advisory opinion to the ICJ. https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/191/191-20231110-req-01-00-en.pdf

Kahn-Freund, O. (1974). On uses and misuses of comparative law. Modern Law Review 37(1), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1974.tb02366.x

Kiaia, M., UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Association and Assembly. (2017, March 9). UN rights expert: Fundamental right to strike must be preserved [Press Release]. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2017/03/un-rights-expert-fundamental-right-strike-must-bepreserved?LangID=E&NewsID=21328

Källström, K., Malmberg, J., & Öman, S. (2022). Kollektiv arbetsrätt (3rd ed.). Iustus.

Lee, E. (1998). Trade union rights: An economic perspective. International Labour Review 137(3), 313-320.

Malmberg, J. & Johansson, C. (2014). Sweden. In B. Waas (Ed.), The right to strike - a comparative view (pp. 525-536). Kluwer Law International.

McCrystal, S. (2019). Why is it so hard to take lawful strike action in Australia. Journal of Industrial Relations 61(1), 129-144. https://doi.org/10.1177/00221856188069

Macintyre, S. & Mitchell, R. (1989). Introduction. In S. Macintyre & R. Mitchell (Eds.), Foundations of arbitration: The origins and effects of state compulsory arbitration 1890-1914 (pp. 1-21). Oxford University Press.

Musgrave, R. A. (1969). Provision for social goods. In J. Margolis & H. Guitton (Eds.), Public economics: an analysis of public production and consumption and their relation to the private sectors (pp. 124-144). Macmillan.

Novitz, T. (2003). International and European protection of the right to strike. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198298540.001.0001

Nyström, B. (2018). Sweden. In M. M. Mironi & M. Schlachter (Eds.), Regulating strikes in essential services: A comparative 'law in action' perspective (pp. 408-438). Kluwer Law International.

Nyström, B. (2024). Tesla-konflikten och svenska regler om stridsåtgärder, särskilt sympatiåtgärder i ljuset av EU-rätten. Europarättslig Tidskrift 1, 7-15. https://doi.org/10.53292/8f191eb5.7207f0e2

Paul, S. (2016). The enduring ambiguities of antitrust liability for worker collective action. Loyola University Chicago Law Journal 47(3), 969-1048. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2649275

Peetz, D. (2016). Industrial action, the right to strike, ballots and the Fair Work Act in international context. Australian Journal of Labour Law 29(2), 133-153.

Pennington, A. (2020). The Fair Work Act and the decline of enterprise bargaining in Australia's private sector. Australian Journal of Labour Law 33(1), 68-86.

Rabe, T. & O'Sullivan, M. (2022, November 22). Sydney trains: NSW government, rail union reach a deal, ending long standoff over intercity fleet. Sydney Morning Herald.

Rawls, J. (1999). A theory of justice (Revised ed.). Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1971). https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674042605

Rousseau, J. J. (1968). The social contract (M. Cranston, Trans.).: Penguin Books. (Original work published 1762).

Rönnmar, M. (2014). The impact of Viking and Laval in Swedish labour law and industrial relations. In M. Freedland & J. Prassl (Eds.), EU law in the member states: Viking, Laval and beyond (pp. 241-260). Hart Publishing.

Rönnmar, M. (2019). Autonomous collective bargaining in Sweden under pressure. In J. López López (Ed.), Collective bargaining and collective action (pp. 189-212). Hart Publishing. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509923199.ch-009

Roy, A. (2011). Collective bargaining as a minimum employment standard. Economic and Labour Relations Review 22(2), 153-164. https://doi.org/10.1177/103530461102200208

Samuelsson, P. (1954). The pure theory of public expenditure. Review of Economic and Statistics 36(4), 387-89. https://doi.org/10.2307/1925895

Stanford, J. (2018, January 30). Historical data on the decline in Australian industrial disputes. The Australia Institute, Centre for Future Work https://futurework.org.au/report/historical-dataon-the-decline-in-australian-industrial-disputes

Stewart, A., Stanford, J., & Hardy, T. (2022, May 11). The wage crisis: Revisited.

Swedish Mediation Office (Medlingsinstitutet). (2004). Avtalsrörelsen och lönebildningen, Medlingsinstitutets årsrapport 2003. Stockholm.

Swedish Mediation Office (Medlingsinstitutet). (2023). Hur har reallönerna utvecklats? 8 May 2023, https://www.mi.se/nyheter/2023/hur-har-reallonerna-utvecklats/ (accessed 2 June 2025).

Swedish Mediation Office (Medlingsinstitutet). (2024). Avtalsrörelsen och lönebildningen 2023, Medlingsinstitutets årsrapport. Stockholm.

TM Sweden AB. (2022). Annual report 2022.

Vårdförbundet. (2024). Vårdförbundet kräver skadestånd för skyddsarbete, https://www.vardforbundet.se/engagemang-och-paverkan/aktuellt/nyheter/vardforbundet-kraverskadestand-for-skyddsarbete/

Vogt, J., Bellace, J., Compa, L., Ewing, K., Lord Hendy QC, Lörcher, K. & Novitz, T. (2020). The right to strike in international law. Hart Publishing. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509933587

Waters, M. (1982). Strikes in Australia: A sociological analysis of industrial conflict. Allen and Unwin.