Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 337, June 2005

Case No 2118 (Hungary) - Complaint date: 28-FEB-01 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 83. During its last examination of the case in its November 2004 meeting [see 335th Report, paras. 119-120], the Committee repeated its earlier request that the Government take all necessary steps to amend section 33 of the Labour Code so as to lower the minimum threshold requirements for recognition as a bargaining agent and ensure that where no trade union reaches these thresholds, collective bargaining rights are granted to all unions, at least on behalf of their own members.
2. 84. In its communication of 4 February 2005, the Government explained that the 50 per cent threshold requirement for the purpose of collective bargaining did not have to be reached by a single trade union but could be reached jointly by more than one trade union. Furthermore, when trade unions, either individually or jointly, did not meet this requirement, a collective agreement could be concluded if more than 50 per cent of the workers vote for such collective agreement. The Government explained that, thus, even if the concerned trade union or unions has/have a very small percentage of representativity, with the agreement of the majority of the workers, it/they would be entitled to conclude the collective agreement. According to the Government, these facts distinguished the system prevailing in Hungary from the situation described in paragraph 241 of the General Survey of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, 81st Session, 1994, referred to by the Committee in paragraph 119 of its 335th Report. The Government further explained that according to the prevailing system, only one collective agreement can be concluded with an employer which would cover all employees of the same employer and therefore it was obvious that at least 50 per cent of the workers should directly or indirectly support the one or more trade unions concluding the collective agreement.
3. 85. The Committee takes note of this information. The information provided by the Government indicates that in the absence of the direct or indirect support of 50 per cent of the workers of an employer, no collective agreement may be reached by the trade unions in an establishment even on behalf of their own members. In other words, in the absence of such support, the trade unions in an establishment, either individually or jointly, would altogether be denied the right to bargain collectively with the employer. The Committee is of the view that this position is analogous to the one where a single union would be denied the right to bargain collectively with the employer if it does not have the support of 50 per cent of the workers. The Committee recalls that, if there is no union covering more than 50 per cent of the workers in a unit, collective bargaining rights should nevertheless be granted to the unions in this unit, at least on behalf of their own members [see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, 4th edition, 1996, para. 833]. By analogy, when the unions in a unit do not jointly have the support of 50 per cent of the workers either directly or indirectly, they should similarly have the right to bargain collectively with the employer at least on behalf of their own members.
4. 86. The Committee therefore reiterates its earlier request that the Government take all necessary steps to amend section 33 of the Labour Code so as to lower the minimum threshold requirements for recognition as a bargaining agent and ensure that where no trade union reaches these thresholds, collective bargaining rights are granted to all unions, at least on behalf of their own members. The Committee also requests to be kept informed of the developments in this respect.