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

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Estonia (Ratification: 1994)

The Committee had previously noted the Government’s indication that a new Collective Bargaining and Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act was being drafted, to cover the issue of registration of collective agreements by the Database of collective agreements (KLAK), and provide for rapid and inexpensive arbitration machinery and a clear differentiation between conflicts of rights and conflicts of interests, so as to give stronger and more impartial support to employees during conflicts with employers. The Committee had requested the Government to ensure that the new legislation would enshrine the voluntary nature of arbitration, recourse to compulsory arbitration being possible only in essential services and for public servants engaged in the administration of the State. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the draft Collective Bargaining and Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act was submitted to Parliament in 2014 but dropped after its first reading, upon expiry of the mandate of Parliament; and that there has not been further action regarding the draft Act. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any measures taken or envisaged to promote collective bargaining and its exercise in practice, including the number of collective agreements concluded by sector and the number of workers covered.