Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Czechia (Ratification: 1993)

The Committee takes note of the observations of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (ČMKOS) relating to matters examined by the Committee in its present observation and the Government’s comments thereon.

Article 1 of the Convention. Protection against acts of anti-union discrimination. The Committee notes that ČMKOS indicates that under section 286(4) of the Labour Code, a trade union acquires its rights vis-à-vis the employer on the day following the notification to the employer about the trade union’s fulfilment of the conditions for functioning. According to the ČMKOS, the notification requirement implies that a trade union may be required to provide the names of trade union members and leaders, creating a risk of anti-union dismissal during the period of time between the notification to the employer about the establishment of a trade union and the day when the union’s entitlements vis-à-vis the employer take effect. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that this provision aims at regulating the moment as of which a trade union may act in an enterprise and acquires its rights, as it had previously been observed that in some cases, employers had learned about the existence of trade unions only after substantial delays. The Committee observes in this regard, that when it had addressed the issue of the beginning of the protection against anti-union dismissal in relation to the Workers’ Representatives Convention, 1971 (No. 135), the Government had indicated that the notification to the employer did not require the prior submission of information on persons entitled to act in the name of the trade union. The Government had also indicated that, while it had no information about any cases of dismissals under these circumstances, the conduct denounced would be characterized as an illegal circumvention of the law, and that it was prepared to consider a legislative change based on an assessment of the practical application of the Labour Code in this regard. The Committee thus invites the Government to provide information on the assessment of the practical application of the Labour Code in this regard, as well as on any developments in this respect.

Article 4. Promotion of collective bargaining. The ČMKOS also denounces that the Act No. 340/2015 Sb. on the special conditions for the effectiveness of certain contracts, the disclosure of these contracts and the register of contracts (Register of Contracts Act) requires employers listed in the Act to disclose in a public register their company collective agreement, and section 6(1) subjects its effectiveness to publication, contrary to section 26(2) of the Labour Code which provides that the effectiveness of a collective agreement begins on the first day of the period for which the collective agreement has been concluded, unless the period of effectiveness of certain rights or duties is stipulated differently in the collective agreement. According to the ČMKOS, the Act thus restricts freedom to negotiate and will lead to a substantial reduction in the number of company collective agreements. The Committee notes that in responding to these observations, the Government acknowledges possible discrepancies between the Act, which subjects the effectiveness of collective agreements to their publication, and the applicable provisions of the Labour Code, but states that an amendment, which aims at excluding collective agreements from the scope of the Register of Contracts Act, has already been submitted to Parliament. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any developments in this respect.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee requests the Government to provide available statistics on the number of collective agreements concluded, the sectors to which they apply and the number of workers covered.