Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Croatia (Ratification: 1991)

The Committee notes that the Government’s communication, dated 29 November 2013, does not respond to the following comments previously made by the Committee:

Repetition

Article 1 of the Convention. Protection of workers against acts of anti-union discrimination. In its previous comments, the Committee, referring to allegations of excessive court delays in dealing with cases of anti-union discrimination, had noted that a comprehensive process of reform had been initiated to enhance the efficiency of the judicial process and reduce the backlog of cases and that a pilot project on mediation in courts showed positive results. The Committee had noted that, according to the ITUC, in spite of some improvements, law enforcement through the judicial system remained slow and labour inspection capacities remained weak. The Committee requests the Government once again to provide information in its next report on the progress made with respect to the measures aimed at improving the efficiency of the legal protection, as well as a copy of the instruments adopted as a result of the reform process.

Articles 4 and 6. Promotion of collective bargaining. In its previous observation, the Committee had requested the Government to reply to the 2010 comments made by the Trade Union of State and Local Government Employees (TUSLGE) alleging that the Local and Regional Self-Government Wage Act of 19 February 2010 restricts the right to organize and to bargain collectively of employees of local and regional self-government units, in particular the right of employees of financially weaker local and regional self-government units (i.e. where aids exceed 10 per cent of the unit income) to bargain collectively over the wage formation basis. The Committee notes that, according to the Government’s observations in relation to these comments, the Act on civil servants and civil service employees in local and regional self-government specifies that salaries of civil servants in local and regional self-government units are adjusted to salaries of civil servants at state level (the Committee understands that the salaries at the state level are determined after consultations and negotiations with the most representative workers’ organizations in the public sector). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of the adjustment of salaries of civil servants in local and regional self-government units to the salaries of civil servants at state level.

Furthermore, the Committee had noted the allegations that the Act on the realization of the Government’s budget of 1993 allowed the Government to modify the substance of a collective agreement in the public sector for financial reasons. It had requested the Government to provide a copy of the legislative provisions allowing the Government to modify the substance of collective agreements in the public service and information on their application in practice. Recalling that, in general, a legal provision which allows one party to modify unilaterally the content of signed collective agreements is contrary to the principles of collective bargaining, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide, with its next report, a copy of the said legislative provisions, as well as information on their application in practice.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.

Finally, the Committee notes the comments submitted in 2013 by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on matters being examined by the Committee and in 2012 by the Association of Croatian Trade Unions (MATICA) denouncing the cancellation of the Basic Collective Agreement in the public sector and the content of the new Representativeness Act, as well as the Government’s observations thereon. The Committee notes that the Act on the Criteria for Participation in Tripartite Bodies and Representativeness for Collective Bargaining was adopted on 13 July 2012 and observes that no national employers’ organization and only one national trade union organization has submitted comments in this regard. With a view to examining the conformity of the new Act with the Convention, the Committee wishes to receive any views or comments the most representative employers’ and workers’ organizations may wish to make in respect of this matter, so as to enable it to assess the established representativeness criteria, assessment which would need to take into account to a certain extent the specificities of the industrial relations system and to determine whether the established criteria are shared by the most representative social partners.