Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Portugal (Ratification: 1977)

The Committee notes the comments of the Confederation of Portuguese Industry (CIP), dated 4 April 2008, relating to the provision of the Labour Code on the right of the workers to impose the obligation on the enterprise to deduct trade union dues from their wages to be sent to the organization of their choice. According to the CIP, this provision is contrary to the principle of trade union independence and autonomy. The Committee observes that, under the terms of section 494 of the Labour Code, the obligation to deduct trade union dues may be established by collective agreement or by agreement between the employer and the worker. The Committee considers in this respect that section 494 does not raise problems of conformity with the Convention.

The Committee also notes the comments of the General Union of Workers (UGT), dated 17 July 2008, according to which police officers do not enjoy the right to strike. In this respect, the Committee recalls that the police and the armed forces, although they enjoy the right to organize in Portugal, as they are essential services in the strict sense of the term (that is services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population), may have their right to strike restricted or even prohibited.