Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144) - Serbia (Ratification: 2005)

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The Committee notes the observations of the Serbian Association of Employers (SAE) and the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia (CATUS) communicated with the Government’s report, received on 30 September 2022.

Articles 2 and 5 of the Convention. Effective tripartite consultations. The Committee notes the discussion that took place in the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards (the Conference Committee) at its 108th Session in June 2019 concerning the application by Serbia of the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), and the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1979 (No. 129). The Conference Committee called upon the Government to, inter alia, undertake the legislative reforms, in consultation with the social partners, as well as to ensure effective collaboration between the labour inspectorate and the social partners. The Committee notes that, following the recommendations of the Conference Committee, a tripartite workshop to follow-up on the application of Conventions Nos 81 and 129 was held on 11 and 12 February 2020, with technical assistance from the ILO.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that social dialogue takes place by way of regular meetings within the Social and Economic Council of the Republic of Serbia (SEC), an independent tripartite body. The Government indicates that the SEC held ten sessions in 2021 and four collegiums and sessions in the first half of 2022 on various topics, such as employment, situation of women at work, minimum wage, child allowance, collective agreements, occupational safety and health, peaceful resolution of labour disputes. These meetings resulted in initiatives and opinions on laws, collective agreements, rules, regulations and plans submitted to the competent ministries, including on the Proposed Employment Strategy in the Republic of Serbia for the period 2021–26 and the initiative to ratify the Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190). The Government also reports on the participation of all representative workers’ and employer’s organizations and the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs in preparations to the 110th Session of the International Labour Conference and SEC’s adoption of a joint platform accommodating tripartite suggestions. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it undertakes, as part of the IPA 2022 project supported by the ILO, to improve the capacities of the social partners through amendments to the Act on the Social and Economic Council, as well as to take measures to improve social dialogue, including through analyses of law and practice with a view to revising laws and policy documents on social dialogue. The Committee notes that, in its observations, the CATUS states that tripartite consultations are misused for political purposes. It also highlights instances in which trade unions were not involved in dialogues between large investors and the State on issues concerning relations between employers and workers, such as wage setting. The CATUS also indicates that its initiative to ratify Convention No. 190, supported by employers and forwarded to the relevant authorities, has been stalled for almost a year. The Committee notes the SAE’s observation that many initiatives adopted by the SEC have not been implemented through laws and by-laws. The Committee requests the Government to respond to the observations made by the CATUS and the SAE.

The Committee recalls that the Convention requires effective tripartite consultations to take place on a list of matters related to international labour standards as stipulated in Article 5(1) and that, in order to be “effective”, consultations need to enable employers’ and workers’ organizations to have a useful say in matters relating to the activities of the ILO referred to by this provision of the Convention. The Government is therefore requested, to provide detailed information on the manner in which effective tripartite consultations are carried out on each of the items specified by the Convention, detailing their content, frequency and outcome. In particular, the Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the result of the consultations held with the social partners relating to the possible ratification of Convention No. 190 as well as of any amendments made to the Act on the Social and Economic Council to improve the capacities of the social partners through amendments, as well as on any measures to improve social dialogue more generally. The Committee recalls in this respect that “the active engagement and meaningful participation in decision-making of the social partners … can help to build a climate of trust and ensure the development, adoption, implementation and review of measures that are both evidence- and consensus-based and promote increased ownership among the tripartite partners” (see the Committee’s Addendum to the 2020 General Survey on employment, p. 151).