April 8 | 12:15-1:15pm | Wasserstein 2004 | Harvard Law School
Jeffrey Vogt, Rule of Law Director at the Solidarity Center, will give a talk on his new co-edited book, The Right to Strike Reimagined. The book explores how broadening the understanding of the term ‘worker’ can challenge assumptions about who has the right to strike. The chapters also offer a vision of how sectoral and secondary action could address injustices in global supply chains. The legitimate aims of collective action are further explored in the context of the climate crisis. The Right to Strike Reimagined will be an invaluable resource during a time when labor law and the right to strike is being consistently challenged.
BOOK SUMMARY
This right, as it has been conceptualized and regulated in the 20th century, remains insufficient to guarantee the strike’s collective potential in the 21st, in the face of serious and growing threats in the workplace, in society, and for life on this planet. The contributing authors, who are experts in labor law across the globe, identify specific legal and practical obstacles that undermine the exercise of the right to strike. They argue for conceptual and/or regulatory reforms to restore the ability of workers and communities to employ the right to strike according to its original aims – democratization (in the workplace and society), redistribution (of resources and power), and collective liberation.
The book explores how broadening the understanding of the term ‘worker’ can challenge assumptions about who has the right to strike. The chapters also offer a vision of how sectoral and secondary action could address injustices in global supply chains. The legitimate aims of collective action are further explored in the context of the climate crisis.
The book will be a vital reference to labour law scholars and practitioners, industrial relations specialists, and policy makers. At a time when increasing restrictions are being placed on civil liberties and industrial action in many countries, this book offers an important corrective.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Jeff is the Rule of Law director of the Solidarity Center and co-founder of the International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) Network, which brings together over 1450 worker rights lawyers from around the globe. In 2022, Jeff also was appointed to the International Labor Organization (ILO) Governing Body and serves on the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association. From 2011 through 2016, he was the legal director of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), where he coordinated the organization’s legal advocacy before the International Labor Organization and other international institutions, advised trade unions on labor law and policy, and supported claims before national and international tribunals. Before joining the ITUC in 2011, Jeff served as the AFL-CIO deputy director of the International Department and as its global economic policy specialist. He has published extensively on international labor law and has testified before executive, legislative and judicial bodies around the world. He is a graduate of Cornell Law School, where he earned his J.D. and L.L.M. in international and comparative law, and studied international law at the University of Paris I–Sorbonne. Jeff is co-author of the books, The Right to Strike in International Law (Hart Publishing 2020) and the Right to Strike Reimagined (Hart Publishing 2026).
