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Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - North Macedonia (RATIFICATION: 1991)

Article 3 of the Convention. Right of organizations to freely organize their activities and to formulate their programmes. Minimum services. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted that section 238(4) of the Labour Relations Act provides that, if no agreement could be reached on the minimum services, the employer or the trade union may demand that the arbitration makes the decision. The Committee had requested the Government to provide information on the arbitration referred to by section 238(4) and, in particular, on the composition thereof. In this respect, the Committee takes due note that the Government indicates in its report that the arbitration referred to by section 238(4) of the Labour Relations Act is circumscribed in sections 182 and 183 of the same Act, that provide that in the case of individual or collective disputes, the employer and the employee may agree to delegate the dispute settlement to a specific authority laid down by law (e.g. Law on Mediation and the Law on Peaceful Resolution of Labour Disputes) or to an arbitration panel if stipulated in the collective agreement.

Right to strike in the public sector. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted that the right to strike of civil servants is regulated by the Law on Civil Servants and that, pursuant to section 34 of this Law, when exercising their right to strike, civil servants are obliged to ensure minimum services. The Committee had further noted the Government’s indication that, pursuant to section 33 of the Law on Public Undertakings, workers of such undertakings have the right to strike, but must fulfil obligations towards citizens, legal entities and state authorities in order not to jeopardize life, health and economic and social security of the citizens, necessary economic activities in the country and fulfilment of international agreements. According to section 1 of that Law, public undertakings are established for performing activities in the public interest by the Government, municipality councils and the City of Skopje. The founder of the public undertakings prescribes which services cannot be stopped in the case of a strike. In this regard, the Committee had requested the Government to provide a copy of the Law on Public Undertakings, along with the list of the existing public undertakings. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that public undertakings are established at the local level, and the number of enterprises and their employees depends on the level of development of the municipality. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide a copy of the Law on Public Undertakings, along with the list of the existing public undertakings established at the local level.