Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association

Collective bargaining15

Collective bargaining with representatives of non-unionized workers

1. The conclusion, with workers who are not union members or who leave their trade union, of collective accords which provide better terms than the collective agreements, serve to discourage collective bargaining as laid down in Article 4 of Convention No. 98.

1. The Collective Agreements Recommendation, 1951 (No. 91), emphasizes the role of workers organizations as one of the parties in collective bargaining; it refers to representatives of unorganized workers only when no organization exists.

1. The Collective Agreements Recommendation, 1951 (No. 91), provides that: For the purpose of this Recommendation, the term collective agreements means all agreements in writing regarding working conditions and terms of employment concluded between an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers organisations, on the one hand, and one or more representative workers organisations, or, in the absence of such organisations, the representatives of the workers duly elected and authorised by them in accordance with national laws and regulations, on the other. In this respect, the Committee has emphasized that the said Recommendation stresses the role of workers organizations as one of the parties in collective bargaining. Direct negotiation between the undertaking and its employees, by-passing representative organizations where these exist, might in certain cases be detrimental to the principle that negotiation between employers and organizations of workers should be encouraged and promoted.

1. The Workers Representatives Convention, 1971 (No. 135), and the Collective Bargaining Convention, 1981 (No. 154), also contain explicit provisions guaranteeing that, where there exist in the same undertaking both trade union representatives and elected representatives, appropriate measures are to be taken to ensure that the existence of elected representatives is not used to undermine the position of the trade unions concerned.

1. The Committee has recalled that Article 5 of Convention No. 135 provides that where there exist in the same undertaking both trade union representatives and elected representatives, appropriate measures shall be taken, wherever necessary, to ensure that the existence of elected representatives is not used to undermine the position of the trade unions concerned or their representatives and to encourage cooperation on all relevant matters between the elected representatives and the trade unions concerned and their representatives.

1. Collective agreements with the non-unionized workers should not be used to undermine the rights of workers belonging to the trade unions.

1. The possibility for staff delegates who represent 10 per cent of the workers to conclude collective agreements with an employer, even where one or more organizations of workers already exist, is not conducive to the development of collective bargaining in the sense of Article 4 of Convention No. 98; in addition, in view of the small percentage required, this possibility could undermine the position of the workers organizations, contrary to Article 3, paragraph 2, of Convention No. 154.

1. Where an offer made directly by the company to its workers is merely a repetition of the proposals previously made to the trade union, which has rejected them, and where negotiations between the company and the trade union are subsequently resumed, the Committee considers that the complainants have not demonstrated in such a situation that there has been a violation of trade union rights.