Bosnia and Herzegovina
The ITUC affiliate in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the Konfederacija Sindikata Bosne I Hercegovine (KSBiH).
Bosnia and Herzegovina 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 1993 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 1993.
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 recognised by law but strictly regulated.
Anti-Union discrimination
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination, but does not provide adequate means of protection against it.
Barriers to the establishment of organisations
- Power to refuse official registration on arbitrary, unjustified or ambiguous grounds
- The time limits prescribed in the legislation for the registration of trade unions are very short. Exceeding the limitations may lead to disproportionate penalties, such as the dissolution of the organisation in question or cancellation of its registration. The Minister of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina has the right to accept or reject trade union registration, and if no decision is made within 30 days, the registration is considered to have been tacitly denied. The 30-day deadline is rarely respected in practice.
Restrictions on trade unions’ right to organise their administration
- Restrictions on the right to elect representatives and self-administer in full freedom
- The law regulates trade unions’ internal procedures in great detail, restricting their freedoms. Company-level trade unions of the Republika Srpska must be entered into the General Ledger of the Ministry of Labour, War Veteran and Disability Protection. The Rulebook of this General Ledger stipulates that the authorised trade union representative must provide a certificate of his or her employment in the company. Should the employer fail to produce the certificate, there are neither sanctions nor alternative ways of proving one’s employment.
- Administrative authorities’ power to unilaterally dissolve, suspend or de-register trade union organisations
- The Ministry of Justice or the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina can effectively dissolve a trade union. The grounds for administrative dissolution include situations where a trade union has not convened its assembly for a period exceeding what is prescribed by the union’s constitution. Trade union activities can also be prohibited by a court decision if the union’s activities are not in line with the goals in its constitution.
Right to collective bargaining
Right to collective bargaining
The right to collective bargaining is recognised by law.
Undermining of the recourse to collective bargaining and his effectiveness
- Absence of appropriate mechanisms to encourage and promote machinery for 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
- The ILO Committee of Experts has highlighted on numerous occasions the need to adopt concrete measures in order to encourage and promote collective bargaining.
Right to strike
Right to strike
The right to strike is recognised by law but strictly regulated.
Barriers to lawful strike actions
- Other undue, unreasonable or unjustified prerequisites
- In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, “production maintenance” must be ensured during a strike. How this is to be achieved must be worked out in advance with the employer and announced no later than ten days before the strike is due to start. If no agreement is reached, the strike will be declared unlawful, trade unions can be fined up to 2500 KM (EUR 1250), and workers may be sanctioned.
Undue interference by authorities or employers during the course of a strike
- Authorities’ or employers’’’ power to unilaterally prohibit, limit, suspend or cease a strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action - In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, employers enjoy discretionary power to prohibit lawful strike actions as a result of the requirement that the employer and the union must agree on “production maintenance” during a strike for the strike to be legal.
In practice
A strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
planned for 16 August at the Kreka coal mine in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s oldest mine, was banned by the Municipal Court. The court ruled negotiations between the unions and the mining administration must resume.
The strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
had been called in protest at plans by the state-owned energy company, which runs the mine, to suspend a third of the workforce on partial wages due to low levels of production.
The Kreka Mine Union announced it was taking legal action against the decision. There had been numerous strikes over the previous few months at the Kreka mine, which employs 2,100 people, over delayed payment of wages, including a total stoppage in April.
A restructuring plan for seven coal mines owned by the state-owned Elektroprivreda BiH (EPBiH) power company, and employing about 7,000 workers, was agreed between EPBiH and the unions in May 2021.
The government of the Bosniak-Croat Federation planned to restructure indebted coal mines as part of a programme to switch gradually from coal to renewable energy sources. The plan included cutting the number of employees to 5,200 beginning with the retirement of 419 miners by the end of 2021.
On 22 November 2021, however, the EPBiH imposed new working regulations that violated the 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
agreement, slashing the miners’ basic wage to 570 Bosnian marka (US$328) from 850 marka (US$489).
Thousands of miners halted work on 23 November and protested outside the seat of government in Sarajevo. They called for the minimum wage to be set at 1,000 Bosnian marka (US$575) while also demanding the payment of pension insurance, the resignation of the mines’ CEOs and the resignation of the head of EPBiH.
Protests continued for a week until the government stepped in to mediate. A deal was reached between the unions and the EPBiH, and it was announced that mining operations would begin again on 1 December.
The agreement, among other things, met union demands for the dismissal of the director of the Kreka mine in Tuzla, one of the seven mines operated by Elektroprivreda. It also provided for pay rises and ensured that obligations to retired miners were met.
According to the Trade Union of Forest, Wood and Paper of Republic of Srpska (SSPDPRS), the management of the Public Forestry Company in the Republic Srpska continued its practice of interfering in trade union matters by issuing instructions to the directors of the company’s local branches concerning “activities regarding the organization of the trade union”. The management also continued to give generous support to a management-controlled staff representation, for example, by putting at the disposal of their members the company vehicles.
These activities are direct interference into internal matters of a free and democratic trade union. “We will continue the struggle against the interference of the management of the Public Forest Company in internal matters of the union and will fight for genuine representation of workers’ rights in the forest and wood sectors through 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
and other legal means,” said Vlado Pavlovic, president of the Trade Union of Forest, Wood and Paper of Republic of Srpska (SSPDPRS).
There are numerous cases of dismissing trade union representatives, intimidation or pressure to leave the trade union or join a “yellow” union. In one case the employer prepared union membership termination forms and pushed 300 trade union members to resign from membership in one day. In practice, it is difficult to set up a trade union organisation without the implicit approval of the employer. Employers often attempt to influence the results of trade union elections by pressuring members on how to vote. Some companies deduct trade union fees from the workers’ salaries, but they do not transfer this money to the trade union account, that is, they use this money as they like.
In December 2015, the Government of Republika Srpska announced the adoption of extensive amendments to the labour law. The new labour law is part of the reform agenda that has been made as a condition for getting a new loan from the International Monetary Fund. Trade unions have not been involved in the legislative process, and the law was pushed through by an emergency fast-track procedure. The law considerably deregulates the employment relationship and was deemed unacceptable by trade unions who called for a national demonstration. There were serious cases of intimidation and harassment during the demonstration, including an excessive use of undercover agents. These agents recorded and took photos of the protestors. In addition, snipers were placed at the roof of the National Assembly building and at the neighbouring buildings. All buses bringing protestors to the demonstration were stopped and controlled by the police. Protestors had to give their personal details, including name and family name, address and company they work for. Prior to the demonstration the police came unannounced to the trade union offices and demanded personal lists of workers who would be joining the protest. The President of Republika Srpska and other government representatives publically called on the workers – trade union members – not to join the protest and stay at home. Organisers of the protest were accused of destabilisation and destruction of the Republika Srpska.
The company Global Ispat Koksana Inustrija Lukavac , employer of about 1,000 workers, not only failed to pay wages on time but also unilaterally decreased wages below the national minimum wage. Moreover, management regularly attempts to intimidate the local Independent trade union of chemistry and non-metals workers of the FBIH. On 21 June 2013, management asked about 60 senior workers to leave the union and set an example to other workers.
In 2008, the Confederation of Trade Unions of Republika Srpska (SSRS) filed a request with the RS Ministry of Labour and Disability Protection to amend the Book of Rules on the registration of trade union organisations. According to the rules, only presidents of trade union organisations may be registered; and only if they have an open-ended employment contract. As a consequence, many companies cannot establish trade unions, as there are no workers with open-ended contracts. SSRS therefore asked that workers with fixed term contracts be given the right to be registered in the Register of Trade Union Organisations and enjoy special protection. However, this amendment has not been implemented.
The Confederation of Trade Unions of Bosnia and Herzegovina (KSBiH) reports that multinationals, especially in the commerce sector, strongly oppose trade unions. Workers in large shopping malls are threatened with dismissal if they join a trade union. Dismissals of trade union officials and reprisals for strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
organising
organising
The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one.
are not infrequent, and in a country where the official unemployment rate is close to 50%, such cases discourage many workers from joining a union. However, the situation did improve in Interlex, where the workers were previously threatened with a 50% wage cut if they formed a union. In October, the Trade Union of Workers in Commerce and Services of BiH (STBIH) held a trade union assembly in the company and elected five shop stewards.