Moreau, Marie-Ange --- "Labour Relations and the Concept of Social Justice in the European Union" [2011] ELECD 680; in Micklitz, Hans-W. (ed), "The Many Concepts of Social Justice in European Private Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: The Many Concepts of Social Justice in European Private Law

Editor(s): Micklitz, Hans-W.

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849802604

Section: Chapter 14

Section Title: Labour Relations and the Concept of Social Justice in the European Union

Author(s): Moreau, Marie-Ange

Number of pages: 22

Extract:

14. Labour relations and the concept of
social justice in the European Union
Marie-Ange Moreau
Appealing to the notion of social justice in the European Union poses a signif-
icant challenge, such is the difficulty of mapping its contours ­ something
which is, at the very least, paradoxical and disturbing for such a fundamental
concept in the context of labour law.
Social justice is an objective which, in the context of labour relations, is
inspired both by the notion of commutative justice, to the extent that it applies
to the definition of the obligations of the parties to an employment contract,
and by the notion of distributive justice, as it is concerned with correcting the
structural inequalities linked to employer power by the introductions of
specific rights, in particular collective rights. It therefore has both structural
and procedural aspects. Its importance should not be underestimated; it is not
to overstate the case to suggest that the objective of social justice is what
inspires the development of social norms, in particular labour law, whether
passed at the national or regional level.
Social justice also lies at the very heart of the international development of
labour law. It has been the central constitutional objective of the International
Labour Organization (ILO) since 1919, reiterated in the Philadelphia
Declaration of 1944.1 The central goal of any national or international policy
should be to allow all human beings to pursue `both their material well-being
and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and ...