Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Bulgaria (Ratification: 1959)

The The Committee notes the observations received on 1 September 2014 from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Government’s comments on the legislative issues raised by the ITUC. The Committee further notes the Government’s comments on the 2013 observations of the ITUC concerning legislative matters. The Committee requests the Government to provide additional comments on the 2013 and 2014 ITUC observations concerning the practical application of the Convention. The Committee also notes the observations of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (KNSB/CITUB) submitted with the Government’s report, and requests the Government to provide its comments on the information provided concerning the practical application of the Convention. The Committee notes the observations received on 1 September 2014 from the International Organisation of Employers (IOE).

Article 3 of the Convention. Right of workers’ organizations to organize their administration and activities and to formulate their programmes. The Committee recalls that for a number of years it has been raising the need to amend the following provisions:

• (i) Section 11(2) of the Collective Labour Disputes Settlement Act, which provides that the decision to call a strike shall be taken by a simple majority of the workers in the enterprise or the unit concerned, and 11(3), which requires the strike duration to be declared: The Committee notes the Government’s indication that there have been no legislative amendments to section 11 during the reference period.
• (ii) Section 51 of the Railway Transport Act of 2000, which provides that, where industrial action is taken under the Act, the workers and employers must provide the population with satisfactory transport services corresponding to no less than 50 per cent of the volume of transportation that was provided before the strike: The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, during the work of the interagency expert working group created in 2010 to prepare proposals for legislative amendments, representatives of the Ministry of Transport and Communication argued that the proposals concerning the Railway Transport Act should not be tabled for discussion and that efforts should focus on the financial stabilization of the Bulgarian railways which would ultimately result in the improvement of employees’ rights, so that no legislative proposals were submitted.
• (iii) Section 47 of the Civil Servant Act, which restricts the right to strike of public servants, including those not exercising authority in the name of the State: The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the interagency expert working group drafted a Bill amending the Civil Servant Act at the end of 2012, which was submitted for consideration to the Council for Administrative Reform (CAR), refused and resubmitted to the CAR for discussion at the end of 2013; following a positive decision of the CAR, the Bill was discussed in the framework of the Labour Legislation Commission at the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation but no approval was granted by the representatives of the social partners; moreover, the Ministry of Defence issued a statement that there is no excessiveness in the prohibition of strikes for civil servants in the Ministry.

More broadly, the Committee notes that the Government indicates that the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy reported on the non-conformity situations between the national legislation and international ratified instruments and submitted them for consideration to the National Coordination Mechanism on Human Rights, which has the power to propose to the relevant state bodies and institutions to initiate amendments in national legislation on human rights. On 30 May 2014, at the proposal of the Foreign Affairs Minister, a decision was adopted to create an inter-institutional working group, which will propose a mechanism and concrete measures to overcome the situation of non-conformity as soon as possible. The Committee notes however the view of the KNSB/CITUB that the Government lacks the will to tackle the matters raised by the Committee.

The Committee trusts that due account will be taken of its long-standing comments and that the work of the inter-institutional working group to be created in the framework of the National Coordination Mechanism on Human Rights will accelerate the bringing of the national legislation into conformity with the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any developments in this respect, in particular on the measures proposed by the above inter-institutional working group and on the outcome of the deliberations within the National Coordination Mechanism on Human Rights.