Trade union complains at European level on restrictions on civil servants’ rights

In early April 2007, the Coordinating Council of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria decided to lodge a second collective complaint against the Bulgarian state with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. Despite having ratified the revised European Social Charter in 2000, Bulgaria persists in non-observance of the civil servants’ rights to collective bargaining and to strike, violating thus Article 6 of Part II of the revised charter.

Despite having ratified the revised European Social Charter in 2000, Bulgaria continues to fail to grant basic rights to civil servants, in particular the right to strike and the right to collective bargaining. Therefore, on 5 April 2007, the Coordinating Council of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) decided to lodge a second collective complaint against the Bulgarian state with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

Background

On 1 November 2004, CITUB and the Confederation of Labour ‘Podkrepa’ (CL ‘Podkrepa’) lodged an initial collective complaint against Bulgaria with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CE); the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) supported the claim.

It was alleged that Bulgarian legislation restricts workers’ right to strike in the health, energy and communication sectors as well as for civil servants and railway workers in a way that is not in conformity with Article 6 of the revised European Social Charter.

On 16 June 2005, the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) registered the case claiming the non-observance of the constitutional rights of Bulgarian citizens (BG0604039I), which CITUB and CL ‘Podkrepa’, together with ETUC, brought forward. While the procedure is ongoing, the Bulgarian parliament adopted the Act for Changes and Amendments of the Law on the Settlement of Collective Labour Disputes in October 2006. The new amendment revokes the restrictive legal provisions limiting the possibilities of industrial action by workers in the energy supply, communications and healthcare sectors (BG0610059I).

Specific regulation for civil servants

Despite the amendment of the law, the problem in relation to the right of civil servants to strike has not yet been solved.

According to the Labour Code, all employees and workers have the right to collective bargaining. Moreover, the Civil Servants Act does not stipulate any specific regulation in relation to the right to collective bargaining of employees in the state administration and of civil servants who are members of trade union organisations.

Article 50 of the Constitution of the Bulgarian Republic regulates employees’ and workers’ right to strike by stipulating that: ‘Workers and employees shall have the right to strike in defence of their collective economic and social interests.’ Section 47 of the Civil Servants Act rules that civil servants only have the right ‘to carry out symbolic protest action’, thereby depriving them from having recourse to the fundamental element of a strike, that is, stopping work. Reducing civil servants’ right to strike to merely symbolic strike action in practice evades the essence of this right, which is guaranteed by the Constitution and which consists mainly in the concerted cessation of work.

The government acknowledges that the right to strike is an essential right guaranteed by the Constitution. It argues, however, that the right to strike, as well as any other fundamental right or freedom, finds its limits where its application would endanger the constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms of other citizens. The government thus believes that a work stoppage by civil servants, given their status and function as ‘executors of the nation’s will and interests’ according to the Constitution, could impair the correct functioning of public administration and entail negative consequences for society. Consequently, the government deems the legal restrictions concerning the right to strike of civil servants to be in compliance with the requirements of Article G of the revised European Social Charter. According to Article G of the revised charter, civil servants can be considered as being necessary in a democratic society for ‘the protection of the rights and freedoms of others or for the protection of public interest, national security, public health, or morals’.

Reactions and decisions

As regards the civil servants’ right to collective bargaining, the Ministry of State Administration and Administrative Reform (MDAAR) stated that the Civil Servants Act excludes the possibility of concluding collective agreements between the appointing body and the trade union organisation of civil servants.

In relation to the civil servants’ right to strike, the ECSR concluded unanimously on 16 October 2006 that allowing civil servants to only engage in symbolic strike action, which the law qualifies as strike action, and prohibiting them from collectively withdrawing their labour (Section 47 of the Civil Servants Act) constitutes a violation of Paragraph 4 of Article 6 of the revised European Social Charter.

Tatiana Mihaylova, Institute for Social and Trade Union Research (ISTUR) of CITUB