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

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Serbia (Ratification: 2000)

The Committee notes the observations of the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia (CATUS), transmitted with the Government’s report and alleging difficulties in establishing trade union organizations in practice due to complex and lengthy procedures. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this regard.

Article 2 of the Convention. Right of employers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization. The Committee recalls that for a number of years it has been commenting upon the need to amend section 216 of the Labour Act, which provides that employers’ associations may be established by employers that employ no less than 5 per cent of the total number of employees in a certain branch, group, subgroup, line of business or territory of a certain territorial unit, in order to establish a reasonable minimum membership requirement. In this respect, the Committee had noted the Government’s indication that the Committee’s comments on section 216 would be taken into consideration in the course of the amendment of the Labour Act. The Committee regrets that the Government merely reiterates the information it had previously provided, specifically that the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs has the intention of amending the Labour Act in the context of further harmonization of the legislation with the EU acquis and international standards of the ILO. The Committee urges the Government to take all necessary steps to expedite the process for amendment of the Act, in consultation with social partners, so as to lower the requirement relating to the minimum number of employees for the establishment of employers’ organizations. It requests the Government to provide information on all progress made in this regard.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.