Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2004, published 93rd ILC session (2005)

1. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government’s reports received in September 2003 and 2004 and the comments of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Albania (CTUA), which were forwarded to the Government in April 2004. The CTUA refers to the operation of the National Council of Labour (NCL) and in particular observes that:

-  while Decision No. 767 of the Council of Ministers provides that the NCL shall meet not less than once every three months, there have been periods when it has not functioned for a period of more than one year. As a consequence of the lack of continuity of the sessions, some issues become outdated;

-  formalism in tackling problems and the presentation of the Government’s position is an accomplished fact. The CTUA indicates that consultations in the NLC are without any effect when it meets to discuss subjects on which the Government has already taken a decision;

-  the effectiveness of the NCL is minimized either by the Government not attending the meetings or sending representatives at the lowest level;

-  the secretariat appointed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has been kept busy with the regular work of the Department of Labour Relations, and therefore does not fulfil its function as the secretariat of the NCL;

-  the Government’s report does not include the remarks made by the workers’ organizations on the application of ratified Conventions, in particular with regard to the regularity of the meetings of the NCL, the budget to ensure its effective functioning and the assistance of an independent secretariat.

2. In its reply to the CTUA comments, the Government indicates that if the NLC has not met frequently in the past, the reason was the conflict inside the workers’ organization. The conflict has been resolved and over the past two or three years the NLC has met at least twice a year. The Government also indicates that consultations have been held in the Permanent Tripartite Committee of the NLC on important issues, including health and safety at work, draft amendments to the Labour Act and the consequences on workers of structural reforms. The Government also declares that it has taken seriously into account the importance and role of the NLC, and that when ministers could not attend the meetings they were replaced by deputy ministers and not by representatives at the lowest level. Concerning the staff of the permanent secretariat of the NLC, the Government indicates that it was recruited in conformity with the rules applied to civil servants, and that it carried out all the tasks set by the NLC correctly and in conformity with the deadlines. Finally, the Government indicates that no comments had been received from workers’ organizations on concrete issues when they were invited to do so.

3. As the issues raised above are related to the effectiveness of the consultations required by the Convention, as well as the administrative support required by Articles 2, paragraph 1, and 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention, the Committee wishes to emphasize that the Government and the social partners should establish procedures which ensure effective consultations in a manner that is satisfactory to all parties concerned. It asks the Government to provide detailed information in its next report on the measures taken in order to ensure effective tripartite consultation within the meaning of the Convention, including particulars of the consultations held by the NLC on each of the subjects listed in Article 5, and to indicate the recommendations made or the measures adopted to resolve the issues raised in this observation.