Tarifverhandlung und Streik als Menschenrechte

Overturning its own precedents, the European Court of Human Rights has held that the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike are clearly protected by the right to freedom of association in Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The ground-breaking judgments of the Strasbourg Court raise a series of questions about the conformity of domestic trade union law with the Convention: Is it compatible with Article 11 to make the right to call a strike the sole preserve of trade union organizations? Can the right to strike be restricted to strikes to secure the conclusion of collective agreements? Does it run counter to Article 11 if public servants are banned entirely from striking, which is precisely the case in Germany? The author takes on these questions by analysing the scope of Article 11 as well as the preconditions for the lawfulness of interferences with the rights enshrined in it.