Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Kyrgyzstan (Ratification: 1992)

The Committee had previously noted that sections 3, 5 and 10 of the Act on Collective Agreements provided that, in collective bargaining, workers are represented by trade unions and other workers’ representatives, including enterprise councils. The Committee had also noted that pursuant to sections 29 and 31 of the Labour Code of 2004, the interests of workers, including in collective bargaining, were represented by trade unions and other elected bodies and that other representatives could be elected where no trade union represented at least 50 per cent of the workforce. It had requested the Government to amend the abovementioned provisions so as to ensure clearly that it is only in the event where there is no representative trade union at the workplace that an authorization to bargain collectively can be conferred to other representative bodies. The Committee notes that the Government explains in its report that in the event that there are two or more primary trade unions or other bodies representing workers in an organization, these shall form one joint representative body to bargain collectively taking account of the principle of proportionate representation. The Committee recalls in this respect that when a representative trade union exists and functions at the enterprise level, allowing other workers’ representatives to bargain collectively could not only undermine the position of the trade union concerned, but also infringe its collective bargaining rights. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to amend the relevant provisions of the Act on Collective Agreements and the Labour Code (2004) in accordance with the abovementioned principle, and to indicate the measures taken or envisaged in this regard.