Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - North Macedonia (Ratification: 1991)

The Committee notes that the Government does not reply to the 2021 observations of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Macedonia (KSS) denouncing: (i) acts of anti-union discrimination, including dismissal, against trade union representatives; (ii) the non-application of collective agreements by the Ministry of Education; and (iii) the inability of the Commission for representativeness to decide on the representativeness of the KSS in the public sector. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide its comments in this regard.

Article 4 of the Convention. Promotion of collective bargaining. The Committee had previously requested the Government to inform on the adoption process of a new Labour Law (Law on Labour Relations) and a special Law on Worker and Employer Organization and Collective Bargaining, which had both given rise to technical comments from the Office. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the process of preparing the new Law on Labour Relations, which has involved the social partners, will be finalised in the near future. The Government informs that it has been decided that the sections relating to the organization of workers and employers as well as collective bargaining will finally be included within the framework of the new Law on Labour Relations. Taking due note of these developments, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that due account is taken of the comments which were previously made by the Office and that the new Law on Labour Relations is adopted shortly. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in this regard.

Collective bargaining in practice. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government indicating that, in the private sector, a General Collective Agreement was concluded along with nine specific collective agreements, while in the public sector, a General Collective Agreement was concluded in addition to ten specific collective agreements. The Committee further notes that according to the data of the State Statistical Office for the first quarter of 2021, the General Collective Agreement in the private sector covers 449,822 employees, which represents 68.7 per cent of the 654,662 employees in the country, and the General Collective Agreement in the public sector covers 204,840 employees, which constitutes 31.3 per cent of the total number of employees in the country. Noting with interest a sharp rise in the number of workers covered by collective agreements between 2019 and 2021, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the factors that have led to this increase.The Committee also requests it to provide information on the provisions regulating the relationship betweengeneral and specific collective agreements in private and public sectors, and to continue providing information on the application of the Convention in practice, including statistical data concerning the number of collective agreements concluded in both public and private sectors and the number of workers covered.