General Assembly

General Assembly Resolution #530 “Fairness in Collective Bargaining” (Category: Regulation; Area of Effect: Labour Rights) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

The World Assembly,

Affirming that the protection of workers’ rights to unionise and collectively bargain is an admirable goal,

Understanding that some member nations may wish to balance unions’ rights with those of employers,

Concerned by the definition of ‘interference’ in clause 1, as it only prevents employers from attempting to gain control of labour unions and fails to provide any meaningful protections for the creation or operation of unions,

Noting that the term 'labour union' is not used consistently throughout the target, and that GAR#530 instead utilises various surrogate terms that unscrupulous employers and governments could effectively argue are different types of organisations, and that the protections over one type of organisation do not apply when their own organisation is considered to be another,

Disappointed by GAR#530's use of easily-exploitable language, which creates loopholes in the following sections:

• 4c, which prohibits labour unions from ‘requiring excessive dues’ without defining what excessive would mean in this context, allowing anti-union governments to define any monetary amount or percentage of income as 'excessive',

• 4d, which prohibits labour unions from influencing employers to pay for ‘unneeded workers’, stifling the efficacy of labour unions to intervene when employers seek to underpay or cut workers' hours, at will, any time an employer states the worker was 'unneeded',

Believing that GAR#530 does more through its language choices to harm the rights of workers than protect them,

Optimistic that a replacement proposal better suited to protecting labour unions and providing for fair negotiations will soon be passed,

Hereby repeals GAR#530, “Fairness in Collective Bargaining”.

Co-authored by: Junitaki-cho