Freedom of association, not to be confused with free association, is the individual right to come together with other individuals and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests. The right to freedom of association has been included in a number of national constitutions and human rights instruments, including the United States Bill of Rights, European Convention on Human Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Freedom of association in the sense of workers' right to organize is also recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Labor Organization Conventions, and the latter also protects collective bargaining in the conventions on freedom of association.
The right to freedom of association is sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of assembly. More specifically the freedom of assembly is understood in a political context, although depending on the source (constitution, human rights instrument, etc.) the right to freedom of association may be understood to include the right to freedom of assembly.
Read more about Freedom Of Association: Organized Labour
Famous quotes containing the words freedom of, freedom and/or association:
“I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America.”
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)
“No slavery can be abolished without a double emancipation, and the master will benefit by freedom more than the freed-man.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“The aim of every political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression.”
—French National Assembly. Declaration of the Rights of Man (drafted and discussed August 1789, published September 1791)