...[You] request an official communication from the [ILO] STandards Department confirming the compatibility of freedom of expression and freedom of association. You have raised this request in particular within the context of the need for many US multinationals to understand what is expected of them in subscribing to the UN Global Compact...[In] Case No. 2683 against the Government of the United States...the Committee [on Freedom of Association]...set out...principles...in order to avoid circumstances where freedom of association could result...in the infringement of freedom of association...[F]reedom of expression is a basic civil liberty whose protection, along with other civil liberties, is essential to the meaningful exercise of freedom of association. Care should be taken...to ensure that...freedom [of expression] does not interfere in practice with the free choice of workers in relation to their right to organize.