Topic:
Country: Australia
Delegate Name: Ja’Nyla Robinson
Country: Australia
Committee: International Labor Organization (ILO)
Topic: Right to Organize
Australia holds the belief that individuals inherently deserve the ability to organize and collectively negotiate free from coercion or threats. We respect organized labor’s critical role in achieving fair pay, safe working conditions, and social justice. Furthermore, Australia emphasizes the significance of providing workers with ensured protection when it comes to choosing to organize against what they believe is a violation of those fundamental rights. However, we do recognize that not everything is as easy as said. Oftentimes, laws and regulations conflict making speaking up for yourself difficult and even dangerous. With threats of bodily harm, prison time and worsening financial situations, organizing is harder than ever before. Therefore, Australia believes that fixing and improving on the rights to organize needs a specialized strategy that involves protection, advocacy, and international agreeance.
Although many laws and policies before have been put in place to try and stop the violation of these rights many of them are flawed. They tend to conflict with other laws criminalizing those who try to use their right to organize. So if current laws aren’t protecting the rights to organize now we wonder how can governments come together to protect and secure this right?
Referencing our plans to add on to the current model of the International Training Centre of International Labour Organization (ITCILO), Australia had emphasized the interconnectivity of labor rights and the necessity for a holistic approach to tackling global labor issues. Just as education and international collaboration were important in combating forced labor, Australia believes the way to increase and stabilize the right to organize is to ensure worker safety and come up with a way to make sure the regions won’t retaliate. This plan would set up systems for monitoring and reporting on member governments’ compliance with international labor standards, particularly the protection of workers’ right to organize with the use of NGO organizations. This would involve frequent assessments and reviews, as well as the spreading of status reports and suggestions for improvement. Australia is dedicated to promoting and protecting the right to organize and bargain collectively as its necessary components of a just and inclusive society.
