Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Latvia (Ratification: 1992)

The Committee notes the observations made by the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia (LBAS) in a communication received on 19 August 2024. The LBAS refers to the need to improve capacity and expertise of the State Labour Inspectorate, as well as other actors to ensure better protection and enforcement of trade union rights. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments thereon.

Article 2 of the Convention. Right to establish and join organizations. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the application of provisions of the Law on State Security Institutions prohibiting officials and employees of a State security institution from establishing trade unions and participating in their operations and to take measures to ensure that this exclusion is only applicable to members of the police and the armed forces. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that all employees of the eleven State security institutions, tasked with preventing and investigating criminal offenses, including terrorism, crimes against humanity, genocide and violations of international sanctions, are considered, due to the nature of their duties, police forces. The Committee recalls that while the Convention allows Member States to define the scope of police rights under the Convention, this exception must be construed in a restrictive manner and does not include, for example, civilian personnel employed in the army or police forces (see the General Survey of 2012 on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 67). The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate measures taken to ensure that civilian personnel employed in the institutions concerned are allowed to exercise trade union rights and to guarantee that the exclusion of employees from the right to establish trade unions and participate in their operations is only applicable to members of the police and the armed forces, narrowly construed.