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

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Czechia (Ratification: 1993)

The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report. It further notes the observations transmitted by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in November 2001 on the application of the Convention and the detailed comments made by the Government on the matters raised.

Article 2 of the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee urged the Government to take measures to amend the legislation so as to ensure that all workers, without distinction whatsoever, whether nationals or foreigners working in the territory, would have the right to form and join workers’ organizations. The Committee notes from the Government’s latest report that the Ministry of the Interior is planning to rewrite the draft Act on association in 2003 with a view to submitting it to Parliament in 2004. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures in the near future to ensure that all workers, including foreigners, may fully benefit from the organizational rights laid out in the Convention and requests the Government to indicate, in its next report, the progress made in this regard.

Article 3. In its previous comments, the Committee recalled that section 17 of the Act on collective bargaining, 1990, requires the vote of half the workers in the enterprise or, in the case of higher level collective agreements, the vote of half the workers to whom the agreement will apply in order to call a strike. The Committee notes the indication in the Government’s report that work on the draft Labour Code is continuing and that the question of voting to call a strike will be examined during the legislative process in close consultation with the social partners. The Committee trusts that the necessary measures will be taken to ensure that the legislation is amended so as to ensure that balloting for industrial action will only take account of the votes cast and that the required quorum and majority will be fixed at a reasonable level. It once again requests the Government to indicate, in its next report, the progress made in this regard.