Author ORCID Identifier

0000-0003-1050-853X

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-18-2026

Abstract

This opinion assesses the proposed amendment to section 107 against the standards developed by the ILO supervisory bodies and the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) under Article 8 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The proposed amendment appears incompatible with the limits developed by the ILO supervisory bodies on governmental termination of lawful strikes and compulsory arbitration and is difficult to reconcile with CESCR practice under Article 8. International standards permit restrictions on strike action in defined exceptional circumstances, but proposed section 107 would authorise the termination of an otherwise lawful strike and the imposition of binding dispute resolution on materially broader grounds, including an undefined “national interest”, significant actual or potential economic impact, and serious actual or potential social disruption. The ILO supervisory bodies have expressly rejected economic consequences and the general or national interest as sufficient grounds in themselves for suppressing strike action, while confining compulsory arbitration ending a strike to much narrower circumstances.

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