Trade union action and transnational litigation of workers' rights.

Summary For the last few decades, the activity of transnational corporations has contributed to an increase in the infringement of workers' rights in territories with weak social protection. The workers' representatives of these companies have had to adapt their strategies to this internationalization by developing intra-group solidarity. The present study proposes to pursue this evolution of union action in the judicial field in the broad sense of the term, in order to achieve a more coercive framework for the activity of transnational groups. The workers of the subsidiary established in the host country must thus find in the trade union organizations representing the workers of the parent company a relay enabling them to have access to a jurisdictional control of the violation of their rights. In a positivist as well as a prospective approach, the different mechanisms open to trade union organizations have thus been confronted with the practice of transnational litigation. These avenues of action have made it possible to consider both the responsibility of the transnational corporation, the direct author of the violations of workers' rights, and that of the States, under their obligation to protect human rights. At the end of the analysis, the procedures of the ILO and the European Social Charter, specialized in the protection of workers' rights, are not very open to the type of litigation envisaged. While the more original OECD framework appears to be more suitable, it shares with the other quasi-judicial mechanisms a lack of coercive character. Trade unions are therefore encouraged to turn to fully jurisdictional mechanisms. The obstacles encountered in the context of individual recourse before the European judge appear difficult to overcome. On the other hand, transnational litigation could be effectively conducted before the national judge at the cost of the proposed changes.