Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Poland (Ratification: 1957)

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government's report.

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. With reference to its previous comments and the comments of the "Solidarnosc" trade union, the Committee notes that the Government had given assurances that a Bill was being examined to amend the Trade Union Act of 23 May 1991 which imposed restrictions on the right to organize of officials holding senior posts (sections 40 and 42), so as to ensure that this category of public servants had the right to form and join organizations for the defence of their interests.

The Committee notes the contents of the text of the Act of 5 July 1996 on the civil service. Under section 49(3) of this Act, civil servants classified in category A are not allowed to establish trade unions nor to participate in trade union activities; their membership in trade unions ceases by virtue of the law as soon as they are incorporated into the A category which, according to section 28 of the Act, comprises persons exercising high-level managerial positions.

In this regard, the Committee considers that barring public servants holding managerial or supervisory positions of trust from the right to join trade unions which represent other workers is not necessarily incompatible with freedom of association provided that they are entitled to establish their own organizations for the defence of their interests and that the legislation limits these restrictions or prohibitions to public servants exercising senior managerial or policy-making responsibilities (see 1994 General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraph 57).

The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the senior public servants classified in category A have the right to establish associations for the defence of their interests.

Articles 3, 5 and 6 of the Convention. The Committee also noted that further to the amendment of the Trade Union Act, provisions on the representative nature of trade union organizations would be adopted which would enable the Government to provide further information on the structure and functioning in practice of inter-union national organizations and their relationship with first-level unions.

The Committee had expressed the hope that the provisions that were being drafted would be consistent with the principles of freedom of association and that they would contain objective, precise and predetermined criteria for determining the most representative organizations to which facilities would be granted, so as to preclude any possibility of partiality or abuse.

The Committee asks the Government to provide information in its next report on any developments in these matters and to send it the text of the amendments once they are adopted.