Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Lithuania (Ratification: 1994)

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government's report which provides only partial responses to the Committee's previous requests.

Article 2 of the Convention (The right of employers to establish organizations of their own choosing). The Committee once again requests the Government to provide further details on the application in law and practice of the Act respecting the right of employers to establish organizations of their own choosing as well as to provide the number of employers' organizations registered to date.

Article 2 (The right of workers to establish organizations without previous authorization). In regard to section 8 of the Act of 21 November 1991 respecting trade unions which provides that where registration of a trade union is refused, the founder members shall be informed of the refusal in the three days following the decision which may then may be appealed in a court of law within ten days of the refusal, the Committee takes due note of the information provided by the Government indicating that the refusal to register a trade union could be explained by the violation of the Constitution by a trade union. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether there have been any refusals to register a trade union and, if so, to provide copies of the judicial decisions.

Article 3 (The right of organizations to freely elect their representatives). The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate whether foreign workers who are legally resident in Lithuania may be elected to trade union office.

Articles 3 and 10 (The right of workers' organizations to organize their activities without interference from the public authorities). With regard to the right to strike, the Committee noted that section 10 of the Act respecting the settlement of collective disputes of 1992 provides a general prohibition of strikes in the defence and national security sectors, the electricity generating, heating and oil companies and emergency medical services. The Committee also noted that this section provides that claims made by workers in these sectors shall be taken into consideration by the Government. In this respect, the Committee wishes to recall the principles that it has formulated:

-- the right to strike is one of the essential means available to workers and to their organizations for furthering and defending their professional, economic and social interests;

-- the restrictions on or the prohibition of the right to strike in the public service should be limited to public servants exercising authority in the name of the State and to essential services in the strict sense of the term, namely those where a strike may endanger the life, personal safety and health of the whole or part of the population;

-- if such restrictions are adopted, the guarantees must be accorded to protect workers who are deprived of an essential means of defending their professional interests. These restrictions should be compensated by appropriate, rapid and impartial conciliation and mediation procedures at the various stages at which those concerned may participate. Arbitration awards should be binding on both parties and, once issued, should be implemented rapidly and completely;

-- trade unions should be able to participate in the definition of minimum services.

The Committee considers that if the defence, national security and public health and electricity services may be considered as essential services in the strict sense of the term, the other services set out in the list are not necessarily so. (For all these principles, see the 1994 General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraphs 152-164.)

The Committee, therefore, requests the Government to amend its legislation to lift the prohibition of the right to strike by workers who are not employed in the essential services in the strict sense of the term. The Committee, moreover, requests the Government to define the compensatory guarantees contained in the mechanisms provided to respond to the claims of workers employed in the essential services in the strict sense of the term, who are deprived of the right to strike, which is an essential means of defending their occupational interests.

The Committee also notes that section 10 of the Act respecting the settlement of collective disputes, prohibits the right to strike in regions where a state of emergency has been declared. The Committee recalls that the freedom of association Conventions contain no provisions allowing the invocation of a state of emergency to justify exemption from the obligations arising out of the Conventions or the suspension of their application. Such measures, therefore, should be for a limited period and to the extent necessary to meet the requirements of the situation. The Committee, therefore, requests the Government to specify the legal framework and the procedure for declaring a state of emergency and it recalls that these restrictions should be for a limited period and may only be justified in a situation of acute national crisis. (See the 1994 General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraphs 41 and 152.)

The Committee also requests the Government to indicate whether a similar provision to section 190(3) of the Criminal Code of the former USSR, which contains restrictions on the rights of workers to take part in industrial action intended to disrupt public transport or public and social services, enforceable by prison sentences of up to three years, remains in force and, if so, whether the Government intends to repeal this provision. The Committee, moreover, requests the Government to provide a copy of the Penal Code currently in force.

The Committee also requests the Government to provide in its next reports information on the application and the functioning in practice of the current system of industrial relations and, in particular, to provide copies of the administrative and judicial decisions pronounced on the application of the new legislative texts.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 1999.]