Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151) - Montenegro (Ratification: 2019)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s first report.

The Committee notes the adoption of the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees (2018), the Law on the Representativeness of Trade Unions (2018), the Labour Law (2019), the Rulebook on the Registration of Representative Trade Union Organizations (2019) and the General Collective Agreement (2019).

Article 1 of the Convention. Scope of application. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that: (i) section 2(2) of the Labour Law stipulates that it applies to employees in public authorities, public administration bodies, local self-government units and public services, unless otherwise provided by a special law; and (ii) section 17 of the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees states that general labour regulations apply to the rights, obligations and responsibilities of civil servants or state employees not regulated by this or a special law. The Committee further observes that except section 15, which provides for the right to establish and join trade unions, the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees does not contain any specific provisions on freedom of association and collective bargaining and understands that these matters are thus governed by the general labour legislation.

The Committee notes with interest that Montenegro has recognized the right to organize and bargain collectively to the police and the armed forces (article 53 of the Constitution, section 15 of the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees, sections 7 and 94 of the Law on Internal Affairs and sections 12 and 67 of the Law on the Armed Forces of Montenegro).

Article 4. Adequate protection against acts of anti-union discrimination. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees does not provide protection against anti-union discrimination but that this matter is regulated by the Labour Law. The Committee notes with interest that section 2(5) of the Labour Law stipulates that provisions relating to the prohibition of discrimination apply to employees referred to in section 2 (including employees in public authorities, public administration bodies, local self-government units and public services) and that a special law may not determine otherwise. The Committee refers to its more extensive comments on adequate protection against acts of anti-union discrimination made under the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

Article 5. Adequate protection against acts of interference. In its previous comments under Convention No. 98, the Committee requested the Government to take measures to adopt specific legislative provisions prohibiting acts of interference on the part of the employer or employers’ organizations and making express provision for rapid appeal procedures, accompanied with effective and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions. The Committee notes the Government’s general observations on protection against acts of interference and refers in this regard to its comments made under Convention No. 98.

Collective bargaining in practice. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that: (i) in December 2020, 42,193 people were employed at the central level and 1,235 at the local level, making a total of 55,428 employees in the public administration; (ii) there are currently two representative trade unions at the branch level in the public sector, namely the representative Trade Union of Administration and Judiciary and the Trade Union of the Judiciary; and (iii) the Trade Union of Administration and Judiciary signed a collective agreement with the Government in 2015, applicable to a broad range of civil servants and state employees, which provides, among others, for the settlement of individual and collective labour disputes by a conciliator or arbitrator, in accordance with the Law on the Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes, 2007. Welcoming the above information, the Committee invites the Government to continue to encourage and promote collective bargaining in the public sector and to continue to provide information on collective agreements concluded and in force in the public sector and the number of workers covered by these agreements