Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Georgia (Ratification: 1999)

Article 3 of the Convention. Right of workers’ organizations to freely organize their activities and formulate their programmes. The Committee notes that section 47(3) of the Labour Code sets the grounds that give rise to labour disputes – either individual or collective with respect to: (i) violation of human rights and freedoms stipulated in the Georgian legislation; (ii) violation of an individual employment contract or a collective agreement; and (iii) disagreement between the employer and the employee regarding the essential terms of the individual employment contract and/or the conditions of a collective agreement. The Committee notes that the Georgian Trade Unions Confederation (GTUC) alleges that the (restrictive) definition of the grounds for collective labour disputes contained in section 47(3) of the Code directly restricts the right to strike since, according to the Code, strikes are a result of a collective dispute. The GTUC adds that under section 47(3), general strikes, sympathy strikes or strikes related to occupational health and safety issues would be considered illegal. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether strikes can be legally carried out on grounds not explicitly listed in section 47(3) and whether strikes not directly resulting from a dispute between the employer and his/her employees, such as general strikes related to the country’s economic and social policy, can be legally carried out.

The Committee notes section 51(2) of the Labour Code according to which, the right to strike is prohibited in services connected with the safety of human life and health or if the activity “cannot be suspended due to the type of technological process”. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that a list of services connected with the life safety and health is determined by Order No. 01-43/N of 6 December 2013. The Committee notes that the list, provided by the Government, includes some services which do not constitute essential services in the strict sense of the term (that is, those the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population). In this respect, the Committee considers that in services which cannot be interrupted due to the technological process, as well as in services such as radio and television (under point (e) of the Order), municipal cleaning services (point (i) of the Order), oil and gas extraction, production, oil refining and gas processing (point (l) of the Order), which do not constitute essential services in the strict sense of the term, minimum services could be appropriate as a possible alternative to the prohibition of strike action in order to ensure that users’ basic needs are met or that facilities operate safely or without interruption. The Committee therefore requests the Government to amend section 51(2) of the Labour Code and the abovementioned Order accordingly and to indicate all measures taken in this respect. The Committee further requests the Government to specify what services cannot be suspended due to the technological processes under the terms of section 51(2) of the Code.

The Committee notes the GTUC’s observations regarding section 50(1) of the Labour Code according to which courts can postpone or suspend a strike for no more than 30 days if there exists a danger to a human being’s life or health, environment safety or a third party’s property as well as to the activities of vital importance. The GTUC states that this provision is potentially very restrictive as any strike may have an impact on third-party companies having business relationships with the company where the strike is taking place. Recalling that apart from the armed forces and the police, the members of which may be excluded from the scope of the Convention in general, other restrictions on the right to strike may relate to: (i) public servants exercising authority in the name of the State; (ii) essential services in the strict sense of the term; and (iii) situations of acute national or local crisis, the Committee requests the Government to review section 50(1) of the Labour Code accordingly and to indicate any use of this provision as relates to the suspension of a strike due to a danger to third-party property.