Czech Republic
The ITUC affiliate in the Czech Republic is the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (CMKOS).
Czech Republic 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 regulated by a Labour Code.
Anti-Union discrimination
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination, but does not provide adequate means of protection against it.
Restrictions on trade unions’ right to organise their administration
- Restrictions on the right to freely organise activities and formulate programmes
- Under section 286(3) of the Labour Act, a union can only function if at least three of its members are employed with the employer. It is uncertain whether workers engaged in labour relations outside employment are considered as “employed with the employer” for the purpose of this requirement. Therefore section 286(3) can restrict the exercise of trade union rights by workers in an employer’s undertaking who are not in an employment relationship.
- Other external interference allowed by law
- The obligations set out in Act No. 563/1991 on Accounting (to publish financial statements, including statutory review by auditor, as well as an annual report) are excessively cumbersome.
Right to collective bargaining
Right to collective bargaining
The right to collective bargaining is recognised by law.
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.
Barriers to lawful strike actions
- Excessive representativity or minimum number of members required to hold a lawful 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 - The Act on Collective Bargaining establishes a majority requirement of two-thirds of the votes cast by the workers (subject to a quorum requirement of 50% of the workers concerned by the agreement) before a strike can take place.
- Excessively long prior notice / cooling-off period
- The time that must elapse before mediation attempts are deemed to have failed and strike action can be taken is 30 days. A strike must be announced three days in advance.
- Compulsory recourse to 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 , or to long and complex 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 mediation mediation A process halfway between conciliation and arbitration, in mediation a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in reaching a settlement to an industrial dispute by suggesting possible, non-binding solutions.
See arbitration, conciliation procedures prior to 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 actions - A strike can only be called in the event of disputes over the conclusion of a collective agreement, and is only possible after all mediation and arbitration procedures have been exhausted.
Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors
- Discretionary determination or excessively long list of “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
” in which the right to 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 is prohibited or severely restricted - The list of essential services includes the nuclear energy sector as well as the oil and natural gas sector.
In practice
The Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (CMKOS) reports that laws and policies, including a new Civil Code have been adopted without the consultation of trade unions, contrary to past practice. The lack of social cohesion regarding the policy direction of the government has had a negative impact on employment and poverty. Austerity measures which have been undertaken since 2011 concern cuts in unemployment benefits, pensions and birth grants.
The Business Corporations Act (Act No. 90/2012) and the new Civil Code abolished the obligation to include union representatives in the boards of join-stock companies. Unions have protested against arguments that companies with union representatives on their boards were less competitive by pointing at relevant studies conducted by the EU. These changes will strengthen the interests of the shareholders at the expense of workers and workplace democracy.
Amendments to the Labour Code which were introduced in 2013 strengthen the role of work councils as opposed to unions by putting them at equal footing with unions when it comes to the consultations. Collective agreement can now be cancelled with six month prior notice and workers in micro-companies are excluded from the right to join unions. This amendment modified conditions for trade union activities in an undertaking in the following way: it is required that at least three members are in employment relation with the employer and the statutes of the trade union organization include an authorization to act in its own name; in the case of small undertakings with one or two employees the amendment means that the trade union protection will not be possible anymore.
According to the country’s labour code, bills relating to employment, economic and social conditions should be put before the competent trade union and employer organisations for consultation. However, the government’s perfunctory approach to social dialogue social dialogue Discussion and co-operation between the social partners on matters of common interest, such as economic and social policy. Involves participation by the state where tripartism is practice. was illustrated by its handling of new labour legislation in the autumn, when trade unions were effectively deprived of the opportunity to influence proposals that have important consequences for workers.
A one-day protest 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
was declared by the unions on 8 December 2010 and was directed against restrictive measures implemented by the government and against wage cuts in the public services and public administration. Sweeping changes in the pay systems of public services and public administration were introduced with effect from 1 January 2011.
Employers do not always bargain in good faith: trade unions report that the information provided by companies 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
can be inadequate or arrive too late. Companies frequently ignore their legal obligation to consult the workers’ representatives on work-related issues.
In healthcare services, 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
is hampered by a transfer of decision-making authority from the management of the respective establishment to the state administration, which gives precise and binding instructions on how jobs are classified and remunerated. Employers and unions may reach an agreement, but the employers still need to negotiate with the central authorities that provide the budget.
The Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions reports that trade union rights violations are on the rise, but that defending the rights and even reporting specific cases is difficult in the current economic situation. Practices such as bullying are often covert and difficult to prove, and workers who speak up risk losing their jobs or suffering an adverse impact on their wages and working conditions. In addition, new recruits are frequently warned that trade union membership is not welcome.