Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

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

The Committee takes note of the information supplied by the Government in its report.

With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes with interest from the Government’s report that the Act on the Amendments and Supplements to the Labour Act, which entered into force on 10 March 2001, amended article 165(2) of the Labour Act by reducing from ten to three the minimum number of legal or natural persons required for the establishment of employers’ organizations, and amended the first paragraph of article 210 of the Labour Act by including among the legal grounds for declaring a lawful strike the non-payment of salaries or salary compensations within 30 days of the maturity date.

Concerning the issue of the division of trade union assets, the Committee notes that although new legislation has been enacted concerning association assets, trade unions are excluded from its scope. The Government reports that although section 43 of the new Associations Act (Official Gazette No. 88/01) provides that assets in respect of which an association used to have the right of disposal or the right of utilization will become the property of the association, sections 1(2) and 43(1) of this law exclude trade unions from its scope and state that section 38, paragraphs 3 and 4, of the old Associations Act continue to apply in their case. The Committee notes moreover the conclusions of the Committee on Freedom of Association in this respect (Case No. 1938) in which it regretted that neither negotiations nor agreement had taken place in order to determine the division of trade union assets and that no significant progress had been made on this case, which had been pending for more than four years (see 328th Report, paragraph 27). The Committee urges the Government once again to take all necessary measures, including the fixing of reasonable criteria for the division of assets and the establishment of a strict timetable, in consultation with all trade unions, in order to resolve this question in the very near future. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the availability of the technical assistance of the Office in this respect should it so desire.