Trade Unions: e s s ence and func t io n s

Trade Unions: essence and functions LPSK lawyer Jolanta Cinaitienė

Legal basis • Labour Code; • Civil Code; • Law on trade unions.

Peculiarities of a trade union as an juridicalperson • Public juridicalperson; • Juridical person of limited civil responsibility; • Social partner status; • Constitutional trade union status.

Trade union rights • Organizational; • Functional; • Exceptional; • Jurisdictional; • Parity; • Right to participate in the employer’s decision-making; • Advising; • Control andmonitoring

Right to Collective bargaining (I) • ILO Convention No. 98 on right to organize and collective bargaining • ILO Convention No.154 on collective bargaining • National legal acts; • Course of collective bargaining;

Stages of negotiations • Introduction; • Collectivenegotiations; • Coordination of the draft collectiveagreement; • Presentation of the coordinated draft to the meeting (conference) of the employees to confirm; • Signing the collective agreement.

Introduction • Presented in written form with clearly formulated requirement; • The representatives of the employees and employers agree on the beginning and order of negotiations; • If not agreed about the beginning of negotiations they start within 2 weeks after the presentation of the introduction.

Collective bargaining • The commission is set up on the principle of the paritet (equality)of the parties; • Activities of the commission are reflected in the minutes; • Negotiations are conducted in straight way and without delays; • The parties have the right to receive all information related to negotiations;

Confirmation of the draft collective agreement • If the meeting (conference) of the employees confirms the draft collective agreement it is signed by the representatives of the employer and employees;

MEETING All employees are invited to participate; It is legal in case not less than a half of the enterprise employees participates. CONFERENCE The delegates are invited to participate; It is legal in case not less than two thirds of the delegates participate. Employees’ meeting (conference)

Employees’ meeting (conference) • In case the number of the participants is insufficient within 5 days another employees’ meeting or conference is organised; • The decisions are made by the secret or open voting and by the majority votes.

End of the collective negotiations The collective negotiations are considered finished when: - new collective agreement is signed; - the disagreement protocol is signed with indication of the measures proposed by the parties to remove disagreements and the new terms to renew negotiations; - one of the parties informs in written form about withdrawal from the negotiations.

Collective agreement • Applies to all employees of the enterprise; • Cannot contradict the valid legal acts; • Cannot establish the conditions worsening the situation of the employees comparing with that established by the legal acts;

Branch collective agreement • Signs the central trade union organisation and the employers’ organisation; • Labour CodeArt. 50 part 4 establishes what is fixed in the branch collective agreement; • Is valid only after registration in the agreement register at the ministry of labour and social affairs within 20 days from its conclusion. • The minister of labour and social affairs can extend the area of its application by the request of the parties.

Problems of the employers’ organisations • Employers’ organisations avoid to commit responsibility and functions in the labour relations; • In the public sector it is not clear which institution fulfils the employer’s function, whom to negotiate with;

Right to render proposals to the employer and to the state and municipal institutions(II) • Implementation of the advisory right; • Aim – to achieve the employer’s and employees compromise that ensures economic success of the employer and as good as possible satisfies the employees’ interest; • Consultation; • Consent to dismiss the member of the trade union representative body; • Proposals to the state institutions.

Trade union right for information and consultation (III) • Consultation: • Directive 94/45/EEB; • Labour Code. • Information: • Employer presents information; • The state institutions present information.

Trade union right to strike (IV) • Legal regulations; • Presented proposals on alterations of the Labour Code; • Correspondence to the international legal acts; • ILO Conventions; • European social charter.

Other trade union rights (V) • Right to demand to annul the decisions of the employers; • Right to lodge the complaint to court against the employers’ decisions; • Right to carry out non-state control over observation of the labour laws and the collective agreements;

Thank you!

Trade Unions: e s s ence and func t io n s