Karnite, Raita
Police trade union established
25 Janvāris 2006
The operation of the Latvian civil service is governed by the State Civil
Service Law and a range of specific laws. The State Civil Service Law
distinguishes between 'general' and 'specialised' civil servants (LV0409104F
[1]). The latter are those performing civil servant functions in the
diplomatic and consular service, State Revenue Service (Valsts Ieņēmumu
dienests, VID), State Police (Valsts Policija, VP), Security Police
(Drošības Policija), Ministry of the Interior Liaison Centre and
Information Centre, State Border Guard (Valsts Robežsardze), State
Firefighting and Rescue Service (Valsts ugunsdzēsības un glābšanas
dienests, VUGD), Prison Administration (Ieslodzījumu vietu pārvalde, IeVP)
and State Forensic Expertise Bureau (Valsts tiesu ekspertīžu birojs).
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/pay-determination-in-public-institutions
Unions call for renewed social dialogue
25 Janvāris 2006
The operation and status of social dialogue in Latvia are enshrined in
legislation and by an additional trilateral agreement which clearly defines
the competencies of the parties. Nevertheless, the national-level social
dialogue organisation, the National Tripartite Council (Nacionālās
trīspusējās sadarbības padome, NTSP), has not been very active in 2005.
In 2004, when the first signs of inactivity appeared, seven NTSP meetings
took place, while only four meetings were held the following year, one of
them being an extraordinary meeting.
Trade unions seek to boost membership
04 Janvāris 2006
The Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia (Latvijas Brīvo Arodbiedrību
savienība, LBAS) is the country's only national trade union centre
(LV0403104F [1]) and the representative of workers' interests in national
social dialogue structures (LV0510102F [2]). It has 24 member organisations
at sectoral or occupational level, which group most of Latvia's 2,904
company-level trade union organisations. According to LBAS statistics, there
were 157,800 employed members of its affiliated organisations as at 1 January
2005. This equals 15.5% of the total number of employed people and about 66%
of the total employed in companies where there are trade union organisations.
LBAS-affiliated unions had a total of 167,400 members, but 5.7% of these were
unemployed.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/the-development-and-current-situation-of-trade-unions-0
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/unions-and-employers-want-to-strengthen-national-tripartite-dialogue
The Government Increases the Minimum Wage to 90 Lats per Month
07 Decembris 2005
The increase of the minimum wage is a constant theme of the debate among
social partners in Latvia. In 2003, the agreement of social partners resulted
in successful approval and adoption of the minimum wage increase concept,
which provided for a strict minimum wage increase schedule, by the RL Cabinet
of Ministers. According to this schedule, the minimum wage should reach a
half of the gross monthly salary of the respective year.
Summer work programme for school students
21 Novembris 2005
In Latvia, the labour law and Cabinet of Ministers Regulation No. 206 of 28
May 2002, which regulate children’s employment, include prohibitions on
employing teenagers in certain jobs, with exceptions permitting such
employment in connection with professional training. The Cabinet of Ministers
Regulation No. 205 of 28 May 2002 regulates the procedures for applying for
permits to employ children - as contractors in cultural, artistic, sporting
and advertising events, and includes provisions for attaching restrictions to
any permits granted.
Unions and employers want to strengthen national tripartite dialogue
30 Oktobris 2005
Bipartite and tripartite national social dialogue has a relatively solid
basis in Latvia. A 'general agreement on the principles of social
partnership' was concluded in 1996 between the Free Trade Union Confederation
of Latvia (Latvijas Brīvo Arodbiedrību savienība, LBAS) and the Latvian
Employers’ Confederation (Latvijas Darba Devēju konfederācija, LDDK). In
1993, the cabinet adopted Regulation No. 70 on a 'concept for the main
principles of tripartite cooperation', and by 1994 three tripartite
cooperation councils had been established and started work. In 1998, the
cabinet adopted a 'concept for tripartite cooperation at the national level'
and reformed the existing social dialogue system, as a result of which the
National Tripartite Cooperation Council (Nacionālās trīspusējās
sadarbības padome, NTSP) and its secretariat were established, and four
sub-councils were set up. The government is represented on the NTSP by the
Ministry of Welfare, employees by LBAS and employers by LDDK. The current
system seeks to be simple and transparent and to provide an effective
decision-making process.
Industrial relations activity in the public sector
18 Oktobris 2005
Modern social legislation has been introduced in Latvia and the necessary
institutions have been established. Latvia’s Labour Law and its
accompanying regulations have been harmonised with EU laws, and they even
stipulate greater rights for workers than for employers. The State Labour
Inspectorate (Valsts Darba inspekcija, VDI), the State Employment Agency
(Nodarbinātības Valsts aģentūra, NVA), National Tripartite Cooperation
Council (Nacionālās trīspusējās sadarbības padome, NTSP), and
organisations representing workers and employers are all operating in Latvia.
Police officers’ picket generates discussion
09 Oktobris 2005
At the end of July the Latvian Police Society (Latvijas Policistu biedrība,
LPB) announced plans to hold a protest picket on the day the government
considered amendments to the 2005 budget. Police officers had earlier tried
unsuccessfully to defend their rights, including higher wages, through
negotiations and by taking court action (LV0412101N [1]). The decision to
take more radical action was reached after their employer - the state - was
unable to fulfill a court ruling stipulating that state specialized service
officials are entitled to the same general social guarantees as state civil
service officials, including childbirth benefits, vacation money and
compensation for overtime work.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/police-officers-seek-entitlement-to-benefits
Amendments to the Labor Law support the fight against all forms of discrimination
11 Augusts 2005
On July 19 2005 the Republic of Latvia Cabinet of Ministers (Latvijas
Republikas Ministru Kabinets) approved the fourth amendments to the Labor
Law, which correct certain deficiencies within it. The amendments were also
necessary in order to comply with the requirements of EU Directives
76/207/EEK, 2000/78/EK and 2002/73/EK.
Specialised civil servants demand better pay and conditions
11 Augusts 2005
The situation in the specialized civil service has continued to be tense
since 2004. Due to lack of funding salaries of the employees of these
services are low; their social rights are not observed. Under Latvian
legislation salaries of civil servants are regulated by a system of laws
which stipulates special provisions for the specialized civil service, but
does not state whether the general civil service salary payment principles
and social guarantees apply to the specialized civil servants. There was an
assumption that the general social guarantees do not apply to specialized
civil servants (police officers, firefighters and border guards), because the
special laws regulating their work stipulated special guarantees - for
working in dangerous conditions, allowances for families in the case of the
death of the breadwinner, and others. The unclear situation and the fact that
the special allowances were not paid led to protests by the police in 2004.
The police officers considered that they are entitled to receive at least
part of the general allowances, namely, the childbirth allowance and vacation
allowance (LV0412101N [1]).
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/police-officers-seek-entitlement-to-benefits