Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Hungary (Ratification: 1957)

The Committee notes the comments of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) dated 31 July 2012 on the application of the Convention.

The Committee also notes the adoption on 13 December 2011 of Act I of 2012 enacting the Labour Code.

Freedom of expression. The Committee notes with concern that, despite its previous comments in this respect with regard to the draft law, sections 8 and 9 of the newly adopted Labour Code continue to prohibit any conduct of workers including the exercise of their right to express an opinion – whether during or outside working time – that may jeopardize the employer’s reputation or legitimate economic and organizational interests; and explicitly provide for the possibility to restrict the workers’ personal rights in this regard. The Committee recalls that the freedom of opinion and expression and, in particular, the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers, constitute civil liberties which are essential for the normal exercise of trade union rights (see General Survey of 2012 on the fundamental Conventions concerning rights at work in light of the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization, 2008, paragraph 59). The Committee invites the Government to review sections 8 and 9 of the Labour Code by assessing, in consultation with the social partners, the need for amending these provisions so as to guarantee the respect of the principle enounced above. It requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in this respect.

Article 3. Exercise of the right to strike in practice. The Committee notes that: (i) the ITUC states that, as a result of the 2010 amendment of Act VII of 1989 on strikes, there are growing difficulties in exercising the right to strike in practice, and provides examples of cases in which trade union applications for determination of the minimum level of service were either not decided upon or rejected by the court due to the union’s “vested interest in determining the conditions” of minimum services; and (ii) the Government indicates that trade unions often submitted applications to the labour court to determine the minimum level of service in the sectors of transport by road and rail, which were rejected by the court due to formal deficiencies and without substantive examination, and that, consequently, no strikes have been staged in the relevant sectors in 2011. The Committee requests the Government to take steps to ensure that the application in practice of section 4 of Act VII of 1989, as amended, does not impede the lawful exercise of the right to strike. It also requests the Government once again to provide, in its next report, a copy of the amendment dated 1 December 2010 of Act VII of 1989 on strikes.