Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144) - Bosnia and Herzegovina (Ratification: 2006)

The Committee notes the observations of the Association of Employers of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), received on 2 September 2016, together with the Government’s report, and the Government’s reply thereto.

Tripartite consultations required by the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide detailed information on the content and outcome of tripartite consultations held in the three entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina on each of the matters related to international labour standards set out in Article 5(1) of the Convention. The Government of the FBiH indicates that the new Labour Law, which entered into force in 2016, contains provisions regulating freedom of association. Representatives of the Association of Independent Trade Unions of BiH and the Association of Employers of the FBiH are members of the Economic and Social Council for the Territory of the FBiH. The Government adds that the most representative organizations of employers and workers in the Republika Srpska participated in tripartite consultations concerning the possible ratification of ILO instruments. The Government indicates that, after consultations with the social partners, the Republika Srpska expressed its consent to the ratification of the Collective Bargaining Convention, 1981 (No. 154), and the Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151), which were ratified in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The social partners were also consulted on the possibility of ratifying the Protocol of 1995 to the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947, and the Protocol of 2002 to the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981; since the parties did not find a common agreement, in 2014, the Government of Republika Srpska declined to ratify the protocols. In response to the Committee’s previous comments requesting the Government to indicate whether tripartite consultations in compliance with Article 5(1) related to international labour standards are held in the Brčko District. The Government indicates that workers and employers are represented by the Trade Union of the Brčko District and the Association of Employers of the Brčko District, respectively. The Economic and Social Council in the Brčko District is composed of the Government, the Association of Employers and the Trade Union. All the three entities have three representatives and one deputy each. The social partners nominate and recall its own representatives and deputies. The Committee notes that, in 2012, in order to support the work of the Economic and Social Council, the Government adopted Conclusion No. 02-000390/12 which obliges all bodies and institutions of the District to obtain the prior opinion of the Economic and Social Council when drafting labour, economic and social policy. In its observations, the Association of Employers of the FBiH affirms that there is no form of tripartite consultation, nor is there an economic and social council operating in the Brčko District. It adds that tripartite consultations are in place at the level of the FBiH, but that there still exist areas for continued development of the work of the Economic and Social Council in the territory of the FBiH. It also indicates that the opinions of the social partners are not always taken into consideration. Representatives of the Association of Employers of the Federation of BiH are not included in the management structures of the extra-budgetary funds, whereas in the Republika Srpska representatives of organizations of employers are included in the management structures of these extra-budgetary funds. The Committee requests the Government to provide in its next report detailed information on the content and outcome of the tripartite consultations held on the matters related to international labour standards covered by Article 5(1) of the Convention in each of the three entities, including information about the frequency of such consultations.