Editing Right to work

{{Short description|Human right to engage in productive employment}}
{{About|the human rights concept|the laws prohibiting mandated union membership and dues|Right-to-work law}}
 
The '''right to work''' is the concept that people have a [[human right]] to work, or to engage in productive [[employment]], and should not be prevented from doing so. The right to work, enshrined in the [[United Nations]] 1948 [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]], is recognized in [[international human rights law | international human-rights law]] through its inclusion in the 1966 [[International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights]], where the right to work emphasizes economic, social and cultural development. 

The [[Human Rights Measurement Initiative]]<ref>{{Cite web |title= Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human-rights performance of countries |url= https://humanrightsmeasurement.org/ |access-date= 2022-03-09 |website= humanrightsmeasurement.org}}</ref> measures the right to work in countries around the world, based on their level of income.<ref>{{Cite web |title= Right to work - HRMI Rights Tracker |url= https://rightstracker.org/ |access-date= 2022-03-09 |website= rightstracker.org |language=en}}
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==Definition==
The [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] states in Article 23.1:

{{quote| (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. | Universal Declaration of Human Rights | United Nations General Assembly}}

The [[International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights]] states in Part III, Article 6:<ref>{{cite web| title = International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights| publisher = Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights| year = 1966| url = http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CESCR.aspx}}</ref>

{{quote|(1) The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right to work, which includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts, and will take appropriate steps to safeguard this right.<br/><br/>
(2) The steps to be taken by a State Party to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include technical and vocational guidance and training programmes, policies and techniques to achieve steady economic, social and cultural development and full and productive employment under conditions safeguarding fundamental political and economic freedoms to the individual. | International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights | United Nations General Assembly}}

The [[African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights]] also recognises the right, emphasising conditions and pay, i.e. [[labor rights]]. Article 15, states:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.achpr.org/instruments/achpr/#a15|title=African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights|website=www.achpr.org|language=en|access-date=2018-04-09}}</ref>

{{quote|Every individual shall have the right to work under equitable and satisfactory conditions, and shall receive [[equal pay for equal work]]. | African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights | Organisation of African Unity}}

==History==
The phrase "the right to work" was coined by the French [[socialism|socialist]] leader [[Louis Blanc]] in light of the social turmoil of the early 19th century and rising unemployment in the wake of the 1846 financial crisis which led up to the [[French Revolution of 1848]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Robertson |first=Priscilla Smith |date=1952 |title=Revolutions of 1848: A Social History |url=https://archive.org/details/revolutionsof18400robe |url-access=registration |quote=Right to work. |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/revolutionsof18400robe/page/69 69] |isbn=9780691007564}}</ref> The [[right to property]] was a crucial demand in early quests for political freedom and equality, and against [[feudal]] control of property. Property can serve as the basis for the entitlements that ensure the realisation of the [[right to an adequate standard of living]] and it was only property owners which were initially granted [[civil and political rights]], such as the [[right to vote]]. Because not everybody is a property owner, the right to work was enshrined to allow everybody to attain an adequate standard of living.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Alfredsson| first = Gudmundur|author2=Eide, Asbjorn | title = The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: a common standard of achievement| publisher = Martinus Nijhoff Publishers| year = 1999| page = 533 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FmuoB-BlMvEC&q=%22right+to+property%22| isbn = 978-90-411-1168-5}}</ref> Today discrimination on the basis of property ownership is recognised as a serious threat to the equal enjoyment of human rights by all and non-discrimination clauses in [[international human rights instruments]] frequently include property as a ground on the basis of which discrimination is prohibited (see the [[right to equality before the law]]).<ref>{{Cite book| last = Alfredsson| first = Gudmundur|author2=Eide, Asbjorn | title = The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: a common standard of achievement| publisher = Martinus Nijhoff Publishers| year = 1999| page = 372 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FmuoB-BlMvEC&q=%22right+to+property%22| isbn = 978-90-411-1168-5}}</ref>

The right to work, but also a duty, was placed in [[Constitution of the Soviet Union|constitutions of the Soviet Union]].<ref>Article 118 of the [[1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union | 1936 constitution]]; article 40 of the [[1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union | 1977 constitution]].</ref>

==Criticism==
''[[The Right to Be Lazy]]'' (1883) by [[Paul Lafargue]], a French [[Marxist]], criticized the concept of a right to work. He wrote: "And to think that the sons of the heroes of [[Reign of Terror|the Terror]] have allowed themselves to be degraded by the religion of work, to the point of accepting, since 1848, as a revolutionary conquest, the law limiting factory labor to twelve hours. They proclaim as a revolutionary principle the Right to Work. Shame to the French proletariat! Only slaves would have been capable of such baseness."<ref>Paul Lafargue ''[http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/Paul_Lafargue__The_Right_To_Be_Lazy.html#toc3 The Right To Be Lazy]'', Chapter II, 2nd paragraph</ref>

==See also==
{{columns-list|
* [[Critique of work]]
* [[Decent work]]
* [[Equal pay for equal work]]
* [[Full employment]]
* [[International labor standards]]
* [[Involuntary unemployment]]
* [[Labor rights]]
* [[Job guarantee]]
* [[Protestant work ethic]]
* [[Refusal of work]]
* [[Right-to-work law]]
* [[Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act]]
* [[Youth suffrage]]
* [[Youth rights]]
* [[Age of candidacy]]
*[[Eight-hour day]]
*[[Six-hour day]]
*[[Right to leisure]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
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{{Particular human rights}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Right To Work}}
[[Category:Right to work| ]]
[[Category:Human rights by issue]]
[[Category:Labor rights]]
[[Category:1840s neologisms]]