Collective Bargaining Convention, 1981 (No. 154) - Hungary (RATIFICATION: 1994)

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Article 5 of the Convention. Material scope of collective bargaining in public owned entities. The Committee refers to its comments under the Protection of the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

Reclassification of several groups of public employees and access to collective bargaining. The Committee notes from the information provided by the Government that while Act XXXIII of 1992 on the legal status of public servants remains in force, several groups of employees (i.e. public servants employed by national defence organization, in vocational training, certain health care providers, cultural institutions and the Eötvös Loránd Research Network) have been removed from its scope and included under new acts regulating legal relationship, and in some cases under the Labour Code. The Committee notes that according to the workers’ group of the National ILO Council, the modification of the legal relationship of public employees was done without the necessary consultation with the representative workers’ organizations of the sectors concerned and that social dialogue was omitted during the conversion of the legal relationship. The Committee also takes note of the observation that the change in legal status effectively excluded the above employees from previous national interest reconciliation forums available for public servants. In view of the above and taking into account the recommendations of the Committee on Freedom of Association in the context of case No. 3399 (para. 426 of Report No. 396, October 2021) on the collective bargaining rights of persons in health service legal relationship, theCommittee requests the Government to provide its comments on the workers’ group observations with respect to: (i) the alleged lack of consultation prior to the referred reclassification and (ii) the ways in which the reclassification of public legal relationship to employment relationship under the Labour Code may affect the right of these groups to collective bargaining.

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The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments.

Repetition

The Committee notes the observations of the workers’ side of the National ILO Council at its meeting of 3 September 2014 included in the Government's report, as well as the Government’s comments thereon.

Article 5 of the Convention. Promotion of collective bargaining. The Committee notes that, according to the workers’ side of the National ILO Council, in case of publicly owned employers, the scope of issues that may be regulated by collective agreement is restricted by law. It also notes the Government's indication that the purpose of the limitation introduced for publicly owned employers in respect of entering into a collective agreement is to promote efficient management of assets in public ownership, fulfilment of public functions, prevention of concluding abusive agreements and the protection of public interest; and that parties must therefore observe the peremptory provisions of the Labour Code while regulating working conditions by means of collective agreement. The Committee requests the Government to indicate which subject matters are excluded from the scope of collective bargaining in case of publicly owned employers, specifying the relevant legislative provisions so as to enable the Committee to assess their conformity with the Convention.

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The Committee notes the observations of the workers’ side of the National ILO Council at its meeting of 3 September 2014 included in the Government's report, as well as the Government’s comments thereon.

Article 5 of the Convention. Promotion of collective bargaining. The Committee notes that, according to the workers’ side of the National ILO Council, in case of publicly owned employers, the scope of issues that may be regulated by collective agreement is restricted by law. It also notes the Government's indication that the purpose of the limitation introduced for publicly owned employers in respect of entering into a collective agreement is to promote efficient management of assets in public ownership, fulfilment of public functions, prevention of concluding abusive agreements and the protection of public interest; and that parties must therefore observe the peremptory provisions of the Labour Code while regulating working conditions by means of collective agreement. The Committee requests the Government to indicate which subject matters are excluded from the scope of collective bargaining in case of publicly owned employers, specifying the relevant legislative provisions so as to enable the Committee to assess their conformity with the Convention.

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The Committee takes note of the information contained in the Government's report and the observations made by the workers' representatives at the National Council on ILO matters.

1. Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government states that under the terms of Act XLIII of 1996 on the Service Relation of Professional Members of the Armed Forces, it is not possible for professional members of the Armed Forces to conclude collective contracts. The Government also points out that under Act XXXIII on the Legal Status of Public Servants, it is possible for public service employees to conclude collective contracts.

2. Article 3. The Committee refers to its comments made under Convention No. 98 on the bargaining rights of the work councils.

3. Article 7. The Committee notes that the workers' representatives at the National Council on ILO matters state that in establishing the amendments of the Labour Code by Act LVI of 1999, the Government failed to conduct consultations with the social partners and that it submitted the amended Bill before Parliament in spite of the objections of the trade unions. Noting that the Government has not commented on this information, the Committee hopes that in the future and as established by the Convention, the Government will ensure that measures taken to encourage and promote the development of collective bargaining will be subject to prior consultation and, whenever possible, agreement between public authorities and employers' and workers' organizations.

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The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

The Committee notes the Government statement in its report that collective agreements cannot be concluded in the areas covered by the Law on civil servants and the Law on the public service. In this respect, the Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the areas of the public service in which collective bargaining cannot take place, the categories of workers who cannot exercise this right and the applicable legal provisions (if possible, translated into English or French).

The Committee also requests the Government to supply the texts of the amendments made in 1995 and 1996 to Act No. XXII of 1992 respecting the Labour Code and to Act No. XXXIII of 1992 on the legal status of public employees (if possible, in English or French).

Finally, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the guarantees provided by the Convention are applicable in the armed forces and the police and, if so, to indicate the appropriate legal provisions.

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The Committee notes the Government's report.

The Committee notes the Government statement in its report that collective agreements cannot be concluded in the areas covered by the Law on civil servants and the Law on the public service. In this respect, the Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the areas of the public service in which collective bargaining cannot take place, the categories of workers who cannot exercise this right and the applicable legal provisions (if possible, translated into English or French).

The Committee also requests the Government to supply the texts of the amendments made in 1995 and 1996 to Act No. XXII of 1992 respecting the Labour Code and to Act No. XXXIII of 1992 on the legal status of public employees (if possible, in English or French).

Finally, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the guarantees provided by the Convention are applicable in the armed forces and the police and, if so, to indicate the appropriate legal provisions.