Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

1. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to keep it informed of the progress made to ensure that all teachers, regardless of their classification as public servants, may exercise strike action without penalty. The Committee noted that the Government indicated in its report that, following a 2001 circular containing transitional arrangements, persons employed under a public servant status before 1 January 2001 are entitled to maintain this status, to a certain extent, even if they do not fall within the categories of employees who will, henceforth, be covered by the public servant status. Once the employees benefiting from the transitional arrangements have retired, public servants will be limited to those who are exercising authority in the name of the State, that is public employees who can be deprived of the exercise of the right to strike. The Committee requests once again the Government to continue to keep it informed of the steps that may be envisaged, so that teachers who have chosen to keep their status as public employees may have recourse to strike action without the risk of being sanctioned. The Committee would also be grateful if the Government could indicate how many teachers have chosen to retain their status of public servant and how many teachers exist overall in the workforce. It further requests the Government to provide a copy of the circular mentioned in its report and to specify the categories of employees considered to be exercising authority in the name of the State, and to whom the status of public servant will henceforth apply, along with the restrictions concerning strike action.

2. Finally, in its previous comments, the Committee noted the information provided by the Government on the introduction of a new structure of collective negotiations and agreements in the financial sector which enables the social partners concerned to depart from the agreements negotiated at the central level and conclude an agreement applicable to the company. The Government indicated that there is no right to strike linked to the negotiations of the original company agreement and to its renewal. If the parties fail to reach an agreement, the matter should be referred to mediation and arbitration; the exercise of the right to strike remains in respect of the renewal of the collective agreements negotiated at the central level. The Committee invites the Government to engage in discussions with the most representative organizations of workers and employers with a view to overcoming the existing limitations to the right to strike in the abovementioned context and to keep it informed in this respect.