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Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Mongolia (RATIFICATION: 1969)

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. Right of workers and employers to form and join organizations of their own choosing and the right of these organizations to freely organize their activities and to formulate their programmes. In its previous direct request, the Committee had noted the Government’s indication that it was discussing with the Mongolian Employer’s Federation (MONEF) a draft law on the legal status of employers with an emphasis on the independence of employers’ organizations, and their right to draw up their own by-laws and determine their structure, activities and programmes. The Committee had requested the Government to provide information on the outcome of this process, and to transmit a copy of the law on the legal status of employers as soon as it was adopted. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that this law is still being drafted and has not yet been adopted. The Committee expects that the law on the legal status of employers will be adopted without further delay and requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in this regard.

In its previous direct request, the Committee had requested the Government to confirm that trade unions can use strike action to support their position in the search for solutions to problems posed by major social and economic policy trends and have recourse to sympathy strikes by virtue of the freedoms set out in article 16 of the national Constitution. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that strikes to pursue the abovementioned ends are prohibited under the Labour Law; trade unions can exercise the right to strike only in the context of collective labour disputes. The Committee recalls that trade unions and employers’ organizations responsible for defending socio-economic and occupational interests should be able to use, respectively, strike action or protest action to support their position in the search for solutions to problems posed by major social and economic policy trends which have a direct impact on their members. Furthermore, with regard to sympathy strikes, it recalls that a general prohibition of this form of strike action could lead to abuse, particularly in the context of globalization characterized by increasing interdependence and the internationalization of production, and that workers should be able to take such action, provided that the initial strike they are supporting is itself lawful (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraphs 124–125). The Committee requests the Government, in consultation with the social partners, to take the necessary measures to amend its legislation accordingly.