The legal architecture of the right to strike: between guarantee and restriction
Abstract
This study analyses the reconfiguration of the right to strike as an inherent manifestation of freedom of association and collective bargaining, in light of the most recent pronouncements within both the universal and European systems for the protection of human rights. While the 2026 International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on ILO Convention No. 87 consolidates the multilevel recognition of this right within the framework of freedom of association, the 2025 conclusions of the European Committee of Social Rights reveal a systemic crisis in its effective protection, as no State examined was found to be fully in conformity with the applicable standards on the right to strike. The study highlights the tension between the normative expansion of the right and its restriction in practice through absolute prohibitions imposed without differentiation according to the functions performed, the indiscriminate expansion of the category of essential services, disproportionate minimum service requirements, and the unilateral imposition of such requirements by employers or authorities. It concludes that these limitations distort the essential content of a fundamental right inherent to the social and democratic State governed by the rule of law.
Received: 07.08.2026
Accepted: 20.09.2026
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