International Transport Workers' Federation v Viking Line ABP
| The Rosella | |
|---|---|
| Court | European Court of Justice |
| Full case name | The International Transport Workers' Federation and The Finnish Seamen's Union v Viking Line ABP and OÜ Viking Line Eesti |
| Decided | 11 December 2007 |
| Case history | |
| Prior actions | [2005] EWCA Civ 1299 and [2005] EWHC 1222 (Comm) |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | V Skouris, P Jann, A Rosas, K Lenaerts, U Lõhmus, L Bay Larsen, R Schintgen, R Silva de Lapuerta, K Schiemann, J Makarczyk, P Kūris, E Levits and A Ó Caoimh |
| Case opinions | |
| AG Maduro's Opinion, 23 May 2007 | |
| Keywords | |
| Right to strike, Freedom of establishment | |
International Transport Workers' Federation v Viking Line ABP (2007) C-438/05 is an EU law case of the European Court of Justice, in which it was held that there is a positive right to strike, but the exercise of that right could infringe a business's freedom of establishment under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union article 49 (ex Article 43 TEC). Often called The Rosella case or the Viking case, it is relevant to all labour law within the European Union (then including UK labour law). The decision has been criticised for the Court's inarticulate line of reasoning, and its disregard of fundamental human rights.
The Rosella was shortly followed by a case on freedom to provide services called Laval un Partneri Ltd v Svenska Byggnadsarbetareförbundet, and by the influential European Court of Human Rights decision in Demir and Baykara v Turkey.