Naslov
Reprezentativnost sindikata i udruga poslodavaca u Hrvatskoj
(The Most Representative Trade Unions and Employers' Associations in Croatia)

Autori
Potočnjak, Željko

Izvornik
Delavci in delodajalci (1580-6316) 16 (2016), 1; 83-111

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
radno pravo ; kolektivni ugovori ; pravo na organiziranje ; sindikati ; udruge poslodavaca ; reprezentativnost ; Hrvatska
(labour law ; collective agreements ; the right to organise ; trade unions ; employers’ associations ; representativeness ; the most representative ; Croatia)

Sažetak
Pitanje reprezentativnosti sindikata i udruga poslodavaca u Hrvatskoj se uglavnom odnosi na brojne međusobno suprotstavljene sindikate, a ne i na poslodavce koje organizira smo jedna nacionalno reprezentativna udruga. Od 2012. godine su zakonom, koji je noveliran 2014. godine, propisani kriteriji reprezentativnost koje moraju ispuniti nacionalno reprezentativni sindikati i udruge poslodavaca te sindikati koji žele sudjelovati u kolektivnom pregovaranju i s time povezanom štrajku. Uređen je postupak te utemeljeno povjerenstvo koje odlučuje o tim pitanjima. U radu se kritički analiziraju učinci postojeće regulative.

Izvorni jezik
Hrvatski

Znanstvena područja
Pravo

Napomena
All legally established trade unions and employers
associations in Croatia have the right to organise
activities independently of any interference from
Government and opposite side. However, Act on
Representativeness adopted in 2012 and amended in
2014 gave the most representative organisations
some special rights. They are vested with the
power to appoint their representatives to the
national Economic and Social Council, and to
propose members of national delegation for the
International Labour Conference and different
European Union social dialogue bodies. Further,
they are allowed to appoint their members to the
governing bodies of the social security
institutions. In order to be recognized as the
most representative, such organisations should
fulfil following conditions: 1) be registered for
at least six months before opening of recognition
procedure ; 2) be active in at least five areas of
activities defined by National Classification of
Activities ; 3) pursue actions in at least four
counties (regions) ; 4) have at least five full
time employees with open-ended contracts, and 5)
have adequate office space and necessary
equipment. Any national trade unions’ federation
or confederation should represent at least 50 000
unionised employees. The national umbrella
employers’ organisation should cover at least 3
000 employers or employers employing at least a
100 000 workers. Currently there are four trade
unions’ confederations and one employers
association recognized as representative at the
national level. Since in Croatia numerus trade
unions (around 600) compete, the
representativeness criteria serve for establishing
their capacity to act as collective bargaining
agents. Moreover, this issue is relevant for the
legality of strikes as well as for the validity of
collective agreements. Only a trade union covering
at least 20% of all unionised workers at a
particular collective bargaining unit can be
recognised as a collective bargaining agent.
Employer or employers’ organisation are allowed to
bargain collectively only with a negotiating
committee composed of authorised members of the
representative trade unions. Only representative
trade unions who have participated in negotiating
committee can call a legal strike. Furthermore,
solely a collective agreement concluded by trade
unions representing at least 50% of all unionised
workers is valid. If trade unions active at a
particular collective bargaining unit cannot reach
agreement on representativeness, special
independent and impartial Commission would pass a
decision on their representativeness. Facts should
be established and all issues solved according to
the appropriate legal procedure. Participating
trade unions have the right to appeal to the
court. These established criteria and prescribed
procedures enable the differentiation between
employer’s associations and trade unions that have
the appropriate capacity to represent organised
workers and employers from other numerous small
associations. Still, there are many legal
exemptions and a very complex procedures, some
unsolved issues concerning representativeness of
the trade unions of some influential professionals
(e.g. physicians, pilots). In addition, we find
problematic the fact that the legislator regulated
this field by a special Act, instead of amending
the Labour Act that is generally applicable on all
the other connected legal questions. Hence, all
these issues attract some criticism and
consequently, there is a need for legislative
improvements.

POVEZANOST RADA