Azerbaijan
The ITUC affiliate in Azerbaijan is the Confederation of Trade Unions of Azerbaijan (AHIK).
Azerbaijan ratified Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association
freedom of association
The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) in 1992 and Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining
collective bargaining
The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
(1949) in 1992.
Legal
Freedom of association / Right to organise
Freedom of association
The right to freedom of association is enshrined in the Constitution.
The right to freedom of association is regulated by a Labour Code.
Anti-Union discrimination
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination.
Categories of workers prohibited or limited from forming or joining a union, or from holding a union office
- Armed forces
Right to collective bargaining
Right to collective bargaining
No information available. .
Barriers to the recognition of collective bargaining agents
- Possibility to by-pass representative trade unions and bargain directly with workers’ representatives
- The Labour Code stipulates that while also labour collectives have the right to bargain collectively, these can only be established if there is no union at the workplace.
Restrictions on the principle of free and voluntary bargaining
- Compulsory conciliation
conciliation
An attempt by a neutral third party, a conciliator, to aid the settling of an industrial dispute by improving communications, offering advice and interpreting issues to bring the disputing parties to a point where they can reconcile their differences. The conciliator does not take as active a role as a mediator or an arbitrator.
See arbitration, mediation and / or binding arbitration arbitration A means of resolving disputes outside the courts through the involvement of a neutral third party, which can either be a single arbitrator or an arbitration board. In non-binding arbitration, the disputing parties are free to reject the third party’s recommendation, whilst in binding arbitration they are bound by its decision. Compulsory arbitration denotes the process where arbitration is not voluntarily entered into by the parties, but is prescribed by law or decided by the authorities.
See conciliation, mediation procedure in the event of disputes during collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
, other than in essential services essential services Services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Can include the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, and air traffic control. Strikes can be restricted or even prohibited in essential services.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
Right to strike
Right to strike
The right to strike is enshrined in the Constitution.
The right to strike is recognised in the Labour Law.
Other restrictions
- Other restrictions
In practice
Even though the Labour Code of 1999 has improved the legal guarantees for workers, labour rights are often violated in transnational companies. The most common violations include conclusion of fixed-term contracts for one to three months, deprivation of annual leave days granted by law, overtime without extra payment, and failure to transfer social insurance taxes. Private employers and international companies operating in Azerbaijan also prevent the creation of trade unions, threatening employees with dismissals.