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Collective Bargaining Convention, 1981 (No. 154) - Czechia (RATIFICATION: 2017)

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The Committee notes the observations of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (ČMKOS) and the Confederation of Industry, transmitted with the Government’s report, which relate to matters examined by the Committee under the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

Article 1(3) of the Convention. Collective bargaining in the public service. In its previous comment, the Committee requested the Government to provide statistical information on collective agreements concluded and in force in the public sector. The Committee notes that the Government refers to the information it provided under Convention No. 98, in which it pointed to a lack of statistics on the number of collective agreements concluded and the coverage of workers in individual sectors but referred to some information collected on the basis of surveys on wages and working conditions. While these sources do not provide complete information on collective bargaining in the country, the Committee observes that they refer to 488 collective agreements concluded in 2022 in public service and administration in various sectors: agriculture and nutrition; catering, hotels and tourism; civilian employees in the army; culture and nature preservation; education; firefighters; food industry; healthcare and social care; mining, geology and oil industry; orchestral music; railways; State bodies and organizations; construction; wood industry, forestry and water management; and cultural facilities. Taking note of this information and in line with its comments under Convention No. 98, the Committee encourages the Government to engage with the social partners to explore ways in which existing mechanisms could be further extended, or additional mechanisms created, to collect comprehensive statistics in relation to collective bargaining, including the number of collective agreements concluded and in force, disaggregated by level and industry, and the number of workers covered.

Article 7. Higher-level collective bargaining. The Committee recalls from its previous comments the diverging views expressed by the employers’ organizations and the Government regarding the binding effect of higher-level collective agreements to all members of the signatory employers’ organization (section 25(2)(a) of the Labour Code). The Committee recalled that, under Article 7 of the Convention, measures taken by public authorities to encourage and promote the development of collective bargaining shall be the subject of prior consultations and, whenever possible, agreements between public authorities and employers’ and workers’ organizations. It therefore encouraged the Government to continue engaging in discussions on this matter with the social partners. In the absence of any information from the Government on this point, the Committee reiterates its previous request.