Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Latvia (Ratification: 1992)

The Committee notes the Government’s report, which while setting out generally the manner in which the Convention is applied, contains no reply to the Committee’s previous comments. The Committee takes note of the adoption of the Labour Code of 2001 and the Law on Labour Disputes of 2002.

Article 2 of the Convention. Right of workers to establish organizations of their own choosing. The Committee had noted in its previous requests that under section 3 of the Act on Trade Unions of 13 December 1990, trade unions must represent not less than one-fourth of the workforce in an enterprise, etc., in order to be registered, and recalled that this requirement was too high. It had also noted that the Government had planned to elaborate a new law on trade unions, where the number of persons required in this respect would be determined according to the economic situation, which is characterized by a low density of large undertakings. The Committee once again requests the Government to inform it of the progress made in elaborating the new law on trade unions and trusts that it will ensure that the minimum membership requirement is set at a reasonable level.

Articles 3 and 10. Right of workers’ organizations to formulate their programmes and to further and defend the interests of workers without interference from the public authorities. The Committee notes that the Law on Strikes was amended in September 2002. The Committee regrets that the amendment did not reflect its previous request to amend section 11(1) of the Law which required both a quorum and a majority of three-quarters of the union members in order to call a strike. The Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 11(1) so as to reduce the required quorum and majority for a strike ballot to a reasonable level and keep it informed in this respect.

As regards its previous request concerning section 37 of the Act on Public Organizations and their Associations, which authorizes in some instances the dissolution of associations and confiscation of their assets, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether any workers’ or employers’ organizations have been dissolved on the basis of section 37 and, if so, to provide full particulars on the circumstances surrounding these dissolutions.