Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

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

The Committee notes the Government’s reply to the 2009 observations made by the Confederation of Trade Unions of Albania (CTUA). Furthermore, the Committee notes the observations made by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in its communication dated 4 August 2011 on matters already examined by the Committee.

Article 2 of the Convention. Right to organize of foreign citizens. The Committee had previously requested the Government to take the required measures, where necessary through an amendment to the legislation, to ensure that all workers, including foreign workers without a residence permit, can exercise trade union rights, and particularly the right to join organizations which defend their interests as workers. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Committee’s recommendation will be taken into consideration when the Act on Foreigners will be reviewed. The Committee hopes that the Government’s next report will contain information on the amendment of section 5(4) of the Act on Foreigners, in order to ensure that foreign workers enjoy the right to organize as required by Article 2 of the Convention.

Article 3. Right of organizations to freely organize their activities and to formulate their programmes. The Committee has been commenting for many years on the need to ensure that public servants who do not exercise authority in the name of the State are able to exercise the right to strike. The Committee notes that the Government refers in its report to a conceptual draft paper on the new Law “On civil service” in Albania stipulating that civil servants will be entitled to the right to strike but with a number of restrictions, which have to be clearly defined in the law. The Committee firmly expects that the Government will take the necessary measures to amend the Act on the conditions of service of civil employees without further delay, so as to allow public servants who do not exercise authority in the name of the State to exercise the right to strike in conformity with Article 3 of the Convention. It requests the Government to submit copies of the revised legislation as soon as adopted.

In its previous observations, the Committee requested the Government to indicate the measures taken to amend section 197/7(4) of the Labour Code, under the terms of which a sympathy strike is lawful if it is organized in support of a lawful strike against an employer who is actively supported by the employer of the sympathy strikers. The Committee recalled that workers should be able to stage sympathy strikes provided that the initial strike that they are supporting is itself lawful. The Committee notes that the Government again indicates that solidarity strikes will be defined in compliance with ILO recommendations when the Labour Code will be reviewed. The Committee firmly expects that the necessary action will be taken in the near future to amend section 197/7(4) of the Labour Code so as to bring it into conformity with the Convention.