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

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Luxembourg (Ratification: 1958)

The Committee notes the observations made by the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), in a communication of 1 September 2015, which are of a general nature. The Committee also notes the observations of the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions of Luxembourg (LCGB), of 20 September 2016.

Article 3 of the Convention. Right of workers’ organizations to elect their representatives in full freedom and to freely organize their activities and formulate their programmes. The Committee notes the adoption by the Chamber of Deputies of the Act of 2 July 2015 to reform social dialogue within enterprises. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that new legal provisions entered into force on 1 January 2016, but that the provisions respecting the election of workers’ representatives and the establishment of the staff delegation envisaged by the Act will be implemented following the holding of the next five-yearly elections in November 2018, or between 1 January 2016 and November 2018 in the case of elections that are to be held in certain enterprises. The Committee previously noted the concerns expressed by the LCGB on various aspects of the Bill and understands, according to the latest observations of the trade union, that the earlier concerns are no longer applicable. However, the Committee notes that, in its communication of September 2016, the LCGB regrets the fact that the new Act has entered into force in the absence of the Grand Ducal Regulations for its implementation which are envisaged in various provisions, and that this situation is hampering the exercise of trade union rights. The LCGB refers in particular to the absence of Grand Ducal Regulations respecting: (i) the constituent assembly under section L.416-1; (ii) recourse to external experts by the staff delegation under section L.412-2; (iii) the new mediation procedure under the terms of section L.417 3; and (iv) the procedures for the designation of staff representatives under the terms of section L.413-1. The LCGB adds that the procedures set out in the Act for votes by correspondence may give rise to difficulties in terms of enabling all employees to participate in the vote in the case of certain enterprises in the international transport sector or which have salaried employees who are highly mobile, in light of the time limits for the electoral process. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in reply to the LCGB’s observations and to indicate the measures taken or envisaged for the rapid adoption of the Grand Ducal Regulations to implement the Act on social dialogue within enterprises, particularly with regard to the provisions referred to above.