Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Azerbaijan (Ratification: 1992)

Article 3 of the Convention. The Committee had previously requested the Government to amend section 281 of the Labour Code, which, according to the Government, prohibits strikes in the railway and air transport sectors, and section 233 of the Criminal Code, which penalizes strikes in public transport with penalties of up to three years of imprisonment, so as to ensure that workers of public transport, including those employed in air and railway transport, can exercise the right to strike, and to provide information on any measures taken or envisaged in this respect. The Committee notes that in its report, the Government indicates that the consultations with the relevant state authorities and social partners resulted in the understanding that like the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, transport and postal services are basic services where the right to strike can be restricted or even prohibited. The Committee recalls that, as an exception to the general principle of the right to strike, the essential services in which this principle may be entirely or partly waived should be defined restrictively. It considers that essential services are only those the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. The Committee recalls that while the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services can indeed be considered essential, transport services in general, including air and railway transport, and postal services do not constitute essential services in the strict sense of the term. The Committee considers, however, that in order to avoid damages which are irreversible or out of proportion to the occupational interests of the parties to the dispute, as well as damages to third parties, namely the users or consumers who suffer the economic effects of collective disputes, the authorities could establish a system of minimum service in other services which are of public utility rather than impose an outright ban on strikes, which should be limited to essential services in the strict sense of the term. In the view of the Committee, such a service should meet at least two requirements. Firstly, it must genuinely and exclusively be a minimum service, that is one which is limited to the operations which are strictly necessary to meet the basic needs of the population or the minimum requirements of the service, while maintaining the effectiveness of the pressure brought to bear. Secondly, since this system restricts one of the essential means of pressure available to workers to defend their economic and social interests, their organizations should be able, if they so wish, to participate in defining such a service, along with employers and the public authorities. It would be highly desirable for negotiations on the definition and organization of the minimum service not to be held during a labour dispute, so that all parties can examine the matter with the necessary objectivity and impartiality. The parties might also envisage the establishment of a joint or independent body responsible for examining rapidly and without formalities the difficulties raised by the definition and application of such a minimum service and empowered to issue enforceable decisions. The Committee expresses the hope that the Government’s next report will contain information on measures taken or envisaged to amend section 281 of the Labour Code and section 233 of the Criminal Code so as to ensure that air and railway transport sector workers can exercise the right to strike, taking into account the principles described above.

The Committee had previously noted the Government’s indication that section 6(1) of the Act on Trade Unions, according to which “trade unions are prohibited from engaging in political activity, associating with political parties or carrying out joint activities, providing and receiving assistance or donations to/from political parties” was repealed in 2006. The Committee once again requests the Government to transmit with its next report a copy of the repealing instrument.