Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Turkmenistan (Ratification: 1997)

The Committee notes the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) received on 1 September 2025. The Committee notes that the ITUC alleges persistent obstacles to the establishment of trade unions, lack of independence of the National Centre of Trade Unions of Turkmenistan and the existence of trade union monopoly, and refers to the issues examined by the Committee below. The Committee recalls similar allegations submitted by the ITUC in 2022, as well as the allegations of grave violations of civil liberties and of the Convention in practice submitted by the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) in 2018. Noting with regret that the Government provided no comments thereon, the Committee reiterates its request and expects the Government to provide its comments on all of the above-mentioned observations.

Article 3 of the Convention. Right of organizations to organize their administration, without interference by the public authorities. The Committee had previously noted that under section 16(2) of the Law on Trade Unions, trade unions must inform the state registration bodies about their activities and submit, at the request of the state registration bodies, decisions of its governing bodies and officers, as well as information on their activities. Similarly, according to section 27(3) of the Law on Public Associations, upon a request from the Ministry of Justice, public associations must submit copies of decisions taken by their governing bodies and officers, as well as reports about their operations. The Committee recalled that that the supervision of workers’ and employers’ organizations should be limited to the obligation of submitting periodic financial reports or, if there are serious grounds for believing that the actions of an organization are contrary to its rules or the law (which should not infringe the principles of freedom of association), such verification should be limited to exceptional cases, for example, in order to investigate a complaint, or if there have been allegations of embezzlement, and should not take the form of permanent control by the authorities. Both the substance and the procedure of such verifications should always be subject to review by the competent judicial authority affording every guarantee of impartiality and objectivity. The Committee urged the Government to take all necessary steps to amend section 16(2) of the Law on Trade Unions and section 27(3) of the Law on Public Associations, insofar as it applied to employers’ organizations, so as to ensure that these provisions did not give the authorities powers of control going beyond those acceptable under the Convention. The Committee deeply regrets that the Government’s reply, while extensive, is once again limited to general statements and information regarding the prohibition on the authorities to interfere in the activities of public associations and the normative basis for the relations between the authorities and trade unions. The Committee therefore once again urges the Government to take all necessary steps to amend section 16(2) of the Law on Trade Unions and 27(3) of the Law on Public Associations, insofar as it applies to employers’ organizations, and to provide information on all progress made in this respect.

Right to strike. The Committee recalls that for a number of years, it has been requesting the Government to ensure that the right to strike was available to workers’ organizations, in law and in practice. The Committee recalls in this respect that the provisions of the Labour Code concerning collective labour disputes did not refer to the right to strike; that, according to the Government, collective labour disputes were resolved through mediation or, in case of a failure, in courts; and that the parties could not refuse to participate in dispute resolution procedures. The Committee considered that while strike action was not an end in itself, it was an essential means available to workers and their organizations to protect their interests. The Committee further considered that insofar as compulsory arbitration, including through judicial proceedings, prevents strike action, it was contrary to the right of trade unions to organize freely their activities and could only be justified in the public service for public servants exercising authority in the name of the State or in essential services in the strict sense of the term, that is, services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Noting with deep regret that no information has been provided by the Government on this matter,the Committee once again reiterates its request and expects that the Government will indicate all steps taken or envisaged to ensure the application of this principle in law and in practice in its next report.