A breakthrough has been made at the International Labour Organization following two years during which employers at the International Labour Organization brought the UN body’s global supervisory system to a standstill, in an attempt to eliminate decades of ILO jurisprudence supporting the right to strike. Union and employer representatives have now reached an understanding at a special ILO meeting this week to end the impasse, based on recognition of the right to take industrial action, backed by explicit recognition from governments of the right to strike, linked to ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association. The agreement comes on the back of a hugely successful international union mobilisation on 18 February, which involved more than 100 actions in over 60 countries in support of the right to strike.