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Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Poland (RATIFICATION: 1957)

The Committee notes that the Government's report contains no reply to its previous direct request. It hopes that the next report will provide full information on the following two points:

1. Article 2: Right of workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish organizations. The Committee notes that, under the new Trade Union Act, officials holding senior posts which involve initiation or management functions and workers whose tasks are largely confidential (section 42 of the new Act of 1991) are still excluded from the right to form or join trade unions.

The Committee recalls that agents of the public authority who hold managerial or supervisory posts or perform tasks of a confidential nature should have the right to organize. It therefore asks the Government to supply information on the manner in which the officials referred to in section 40 of the Act of 1982 defend their professional interests in practice, in view of the fact that former section 41 of the Act, which provided for the possibility for such officials to establish workers' councils, has been repealed by the new Trade Union Act.

It also asks the Government to indicate in its next report the reasons why members of youth brigades serving in the civil defence service are prohibited from forming unions (section 40 of the Trade Union Act). It recalls that under Article 9 of the Convention, only the armed forces and the police may be excluded from the right to organize.

2. Article 3: Right of trade unions to organize their administration and activities and to formulate their programmes. In accordance with the Trade Union Act of 23 May 1991, the national inter-trade union organization and the national union that is representative of workers in the majority of establishments enjoy more rights to defend the interests of their members than base-level unions.

The Committee requests the Government to indicate how the national inter-trade union organization and the national union that is representative of workers in the majority of establishments are defined and composed and how they function in practice. It also requests the Government to provide information on the relations between the above unions and the base-level trade unions.