Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Collective Bargaining Convention, 1981 (No. 154) - Albania (Ratification: 2002)

Other comments on C154

Direct Request

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Article 5 of the Convention. Promotion of collective bargaining in the private sector. In its previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to provide detailed information on the measures taken to promote collective bargaining in the private sector, as well as the approximate number of collective agreements concluded, the sectors concerned, and the percentage of workers covered. Given that Albania has ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), the Committee will examine the information provided by the Government in this respect in the framework of the application of the above Convention.

Promotion of collective bargaining in the public sector. In its previous comments under the Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151), the Committee had noted that section 39(1) of law no. 152/2013 guarantees civil servants the right to be consulted through their trade union or their representatives in decisions concerning conditions of employment. Further observing that, in accordance with section 39(3), the Council of Ministers shall issue detailed rules for the exercise of this right, the Committee had requested the Government to provide information on the issuance of these rules. The Committee notes the Government's indication that the detailed rules for the exercise of the right of consultation provided for in section 39(3) of law no. 152/2013 has not been adopted. Recalling that, under the terms of the Convention, civil servants should not only be consulted but also be in a position to bargain collectively on conditions of employment and work, the Committee requests the Government to indicate, how the right of civil servants to bargain collectively is recognized, both in law and in practice, and to provide information on collective agreements signed and in force in the public sector.

Article 5(e). Settlement of labour disputes. In previous comments under Convention No. 151, the Confederation of Trade Unions of Albania had pointed out that the procedures provided for in the Labour Code for the resolution of collective disputes had never functioned normally, and that boards of conciliation were not always set up in order to settle labour disputes. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning several amendments to the Labour Code introduced by law no. 136/2015. It particularly notes that the Government indicates that, according to section 170 of the Labour Code, in the event of a dispute concerning the breach of a collective agreement, one of the parties may request the intervention of the court of arbitration, an independent and impartial party, for the resolution of the dispute. While taking due note of the information provided by the Government, the Committee recalls that the concerns raised by the Confederation of Trade Unions of Albania went beyond the specific situation of the breach of a collective agreement and referred to the ineffective functioning of the dispute settlement mechanisms in general. In view of the above, the Committee requests the Government to provide specific information on the measures taken, both in law and in practice, to encourage and promote the effective functioning of dispute settlement mechanisms, in particular the conciliation and mediation boards, both in the private and public sectors.