Yet strike action is one of the fundamental means available to workers and their organisations to promote their economic and social interests. Although Article 151 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) states that ‘he Union and the Member States (…) shall have as their objectives the promotion of employment, improved living and working conditions, so as to make possible their harmonisation while the improvement is being maintained (…)’, Article 153(5) TFEU explicitly excludes the right to strike from the provisions over which the Union has competence to legislate.
