Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Bulgaria (Ratification: 1959)

The Committee take notes of the information provided in the Government’s report.

Article 3 of the Convention. Negotiated minimum services. The Committee notes that, according to section 51 of the Act on Railway Transport of 2000, in case activities under Chapter 3 of the Act regarding the settlement of collective labour disputes are undertaken, workers and their employers are obliged to provide satisfactory transport services to the population, but not less than 50 per cent of the volume of transportation which was provided before the strike was undertaken. In this regard, the Committee recalls that since the establishment of a minimum service restricts one of the essential means of pressure available to workers to defend their economic and social interests, workers’ organizations should be able to participate in defining such a service, along with employers and public authorities. The Committee considers that a legislatively set minimum requirement of 50 per cent of the volume of transportation may excessively restrict the right of railway workers to undertake industrial action. It therefore requests the Government to indicate, in its next report, the measures taken or envisaged to amend this provision so as to ensure that workers’ organizations may participate in negotiations on the definition and organization of a minimum service and that, where no agreement is possible, the matter will be referred to an independent body.