Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Kyrgyzstan (Ratification: 1992)

The Committee recalls that it previously noted the concerns expressed by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Federation of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan (FPK) regarding the provisions of the draft Act on Trade Unions. The allegation of incompliance of the draft Act on Trade Unions with the Convention was also brought before the Committee on Freedom of Association, which referred the legislative aspects of the case in question to the Committee for follow-up (Case No. 3386 (Report No. 396, November 2021)).

The Committee notes that the President of the Republic has vetoed the draft Act on three occasions. The Committee also notes with interest the Government’s indication that, in order to give effect to Presidential Order No. 26 of 8 February 2021 to undertake a national inventory of legislation, the Ministry of Labour and Social Development is currently carrying out a general evaluation of labour legislation with a view to aligning it with the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the FPK be included in the above inventory so that any new amendments to the Act on Trade Unions in force or any new legislative proposal is subject to full and meaningful consultations with the social partners, and that any new legislative provisions that impact trade union rights are in full conformity with the Convention.

The Committee recalls that in its previous comments it noted that, pursuant to sections 3, 5 and 10 of the Act on Collective Agreements, in collective bargaining, workers were represented by trade unions and other workers’ representatives, including enterprise councils. In this respect, it further noted that pursuant to sections 29, 31 and 38 of the Labour Code of 2004, the interests of workers, including in collective bargaining, were represented by trade unions and other elected bodies and that other representatives could be elected where no trade union represented at least 50 per cent of the workforce. It requested the Government to amend the above-mentioned provisions so as to ensure clearly that the position of a representative union, even if it does not represent 50 per cent of the workforce, is not undermined by elected representatives in the collective bargaining process. Noting the Government’s indication that this question would be examined by the Tripartite Working Group on the Improvement of Labour Legislation established by an order of the Minister of Labour and Social Development in 2019 and that the FPK drafted a law to amend the Labour Code and the Act on Collective Agreements, aiming to ensure, in particular, that collective bargaining remained a prerogative of trade unions, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on all developments in this regard.

The Committee notes that the Government reiterates the information it previously provided and indicates that the above-mentioned process to conduct an inventory of the labour legislation will also involve bringing it into conformity with the Convention. The Committee expects that the Government will be in the position to report tangible progress in this regard in its next report.

The Committee reminds the Government of the possibility of availing itself of ILO technical assistance with regard to the issues raised above.

The Committee notes the information on the number of collective agreements concluded in the country in 2020. It requests the Government to, in its next report, provide information on the number of collective agreements concluded in the private and public sectors, as well as the number of workers covered.