New suggestions

The Chinese delegation submitted a comment where the right to work was organized under Article III,⁵⁴⁹ grouped under the right to a decent living, work and leisure, health, education, economic and social security.⁵⁵⁰ The United States of America did not agree. It recommended that Article 23 should read…Everyone is entitled to: The right to work under fair and just conditions, to choose a vocation freely, and to join trade unions of his own choice for the protection of his interests in securing a fair standard of living for himself and his life’.⁵⁵¹ The French offered perhaps the most detailed suggestions, where, inter alia, everyone had the right to work; the State had a duty to prevent unemployment; pay was to be commensurate with ability and skill for securing a full, decent and dignified life; and women were to receive equal pay for

545 Collation of the Comments of Governments on the Draft International Declaration on Human Rights, Draft International Covenant on Human Rights, and the Question of Implementation (E/CN.4/85, 1 May 1948) in WA Schabas ibid 1468.

546 Ibid 1468.

547Ibid 1468.

548 Ibid 1468.

549 Draft International Declaration on Human Rights (E/CN.4/AC.1/18, 3 May 1948) ibid 1476.

550 Ibid 1476.

551 Draft International Declaration on Human Rights (Document E/600) with United States’ Recommendation (E/CN.4/AC.1/20, 5 May 1948) ibid 1498.

equal work and with the advantages as men.⁵⁵² The United Kingdom, however, wanted Article 23, Sub-paragraph 1, redrafted to read: ‘Everyone has the right to work or maintenance’.⁵⁵³ The new recommendations, it seems, were now a mixture of rights and equality issues.

However, the wording of the draft, especially the Article on the right to work, was severely criticized by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics’ AN Pavlov,⁵⁵⁴ who argued that the draft did ‘not really give the working man any real guarantee against unemployment’.⁵⁵⁵ The Article was described as indefinite, vague and ambiguous, and incapable of doing ‘anything really significant to the unemployed person’.⁵⁵⁶ He even recalled Article 118 of the constitution of the Soviet Union, saying that in the ‘Soviet Union, the right to work is a complete reality.’⁵⁵⁷ He therefore wanted concrete ways and means that would give effect to rights rather than the

‘empty definitions’ which he said the Declaration was contented with.⁵⁵⁸ Despite the criticisms, the Drafting Committee,⁵⁵⁹ during the second session, considered a draft of Article 23 as follows:

1. Everyone has the right to work.

2. The State has a duty to take such measures as may be within its power to ensure that all persons ordinary resident in its territory have an opportunity for useful work.

3. The State is bound to take all necessary steps to prevent unemployment.

552 Observations of Governments on the Draft International Declaration on Human Rights, the Draft International Covenant on Human Rights, and Methods of Application, Communications from the French Government,

(E/CN.4/82/Add.8, 6 May 1948), Comments on the Articles of the Draft International Declaration on Human Rights (E/CN.4/85, 1 May 1948) in WA Schabas ibid 1506.

553 Comments from Governments on the draft International Declaration on Human Rights, Draft International Covenant on Human Rights and the Question of Implementation, CommunicationReceived from the United Kingdom (E/CN.4/82/Add.9, 10 May 1948), Comments on the Articles of the Draft International Declaration on Human Rights (E/CN.4/85, 1 May 1948) ibid 1516.

554 Speech by Mr. A.N. Pavlov, Representative of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the Drafting Committee of the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/AC.1/29, 11 May 1948) ibid 1523.

555 Ibid.

556 Ibid 1523.

557 Ibid 1524.

558 Ibid 1527.

559 Report of the Drafting Committee to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/95, 21 May 1948) in WA Schabas ibid 1611.

The alternative text suggested by France and the United Kingdom for Articles 23 and 24 was also considered.⁵⁶⁰ The committee also had to consider amendments suggested by India and the United Kingdom,⁵⁶¹ who suggested omitting the second and third sentences and replacing the first with: ‘Everyone has the right to work under just and favourable conditions’.⁵⁶² China

suggested that Articles 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 of the draft be substituted by: ‘Everyone has the right to a decent living; to work and leisure, to health, education, economic and social

security’.⁵⁶³ As the discussions progressed, Articles 23 and 24 were merged and discussed in detail, as they had become virtually inseparable ideas covering: i) the right to work; ii) the right to just and favourable working conditions; iii) the right to a decent standard of living for the worker and his family; iv) equal working conditions for men and women workers, v) the right to join a trade union; and vi) the right to fight unemployment.⁵⁶⁴

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic representative, Mr. Klekovkin, argued that very few documents at the time that contained the right to work, leisure, etc. Work and unemployment were two problems which, if glossed over, ‘would mean disregarding one of the main anxieties of the man in the street’.⁵⁶⁵ It was for the State to take the necessary measures on behalf of the community or society to prevent unemployment. Mr. Klekovkin noted further that ‘work was not a painful obligation, but a mutual emulation whereby each wanted to outdo his neighbour, which can result in constructive and progressive character of the concept of work’.⁵⁶⁶

The debate was not over. The Philippines delegation noted that it would be wise to avoid excessive reference to the duties of the State.⁵⁶⁷ A new paragraph was suggested for insertion into Article 23: ‘The enjoyment of those rights should be ensured by such measures as would

560 Ibid 1611.

561 India and the United Kingdom: Proposed Amendments to the Draft Declaration on Human Rights (E/CN.4/99, 24 May 1948) in WA Schabas ibid 1622.

562 Ibid 1622.

563 China: Amendment to the Draft International Declaration on Human Rights (E/CN.4/102, 27 May 1948) ibid 1653.

564 Summary Record of the Sixty-Fourth Meeting [of the Commission on Human Rights] (E/CN.4/SR.64, 17 June 1948) (meeting took place on 8 June 1948) ibid 1802-03.

565 Ibid 1803

566 Ibid 1804.

567 Ibid 1808.

create the possibility for useful work and prevent unemployment’.⁵⁶⁸ The Australian

representative, however, suggested replacing Articles 23, 24 and 25 as follows: ‘Everyone has the right to useful and remunerative work’, ‘Everyone has the right to just and fair working conditions and to reasonable limitations on working hours’, and ‘Everyone is free to join trade unions for the protection of his interests’.⁵⁶⁹

The representative of the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions argued that, as the rights were newly recognized, it was necessary to express them explicitly.⁵⁷⁰ The right to work was the first of the eight rights to be identified. Mr. Charles Habib Malik, a Rapporteur, noted the need to insert a statement calling for ‘attention to the need for establishing the kind of economic and social conditions that would guarantee those rights’.⁵⁷¹ The next draft⁵⁷² used the wording: ‘Everyone has the right to work and to just and favourable conditions of work and pay’.

The State or society was tasked with creating possible opportunities (favourable conditions) and preventing unemployment; everyone had the freedom to join trade unions to protect his or her interests, with equal pay for equal work by men and women.