Estonia

Freedom of association / Right to organise

Anti-Union discrimination

Barriers to the establishment of organisations

Other formalities or requirements which excessively delay or substantially impair the free establishment of organisations

The Income Tax Act obliges trade unions to provide a list of all members, including their personal identity codes, unless their members object to that declaration and thereby forfeit the tax rebate on their union dues.

Right to collective bargaining

Restrictions on the principle of free and voluntary bargaining

Authorities’ or employers’ power to unilaterally annul, modify or extend content and scope of collective agreements

By virtue of a 2012 amendment to the Collective Agreement Act, either party to the agreement may cancel a collective agreement that is otherwise valid for an indefinite period of time by notifying the other party thereof no less than six months in advance. However, the obligation arising from a collective agreement to refrain from calling a strike or a lock-out ends as of the submission of a notice concerning the cancellation of the collective agreement (art. 11, Collective Agreement Act).

Right to strike

Barriers to lawful strike actions

Excessively long prior notice / cooling-off period

Organisers of a strike are required to notify the other party, the Public Conciliator and the local government of a planned strike in writing at least two weeks in advance. The notice shall set out the reasons, exact time of commencement and possible scope of the strike (art. 15, Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act). Three days’ notice is required for warning strikes (which can only last for up to an hour), and five days’ notice is required for sympathy strikes (art. 18, Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act).

Ban or limitations on certain types of strike actions

Restrictions with respect to type of 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 (e.g. pickets, wild-cat, working to rule, sit-down, go-slow go-slow A form of industrial action whereby the workers deliberately reduce their pace of work in order to restrict output.

See work-to-rule )

It is prohibited to impede the performance of work by employees who do not participate in a strike (art. 20, Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act). Warning strikes (for which three days’ notice is required) may not last longer than one hour. Sympathy strikes may not last longer than three days (article 18, Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act).

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

The commencement of a strike may be postponed, by one month by the Government of the Republic on the proposal of the Public Conciliator, or by two weeks by the city or county government on the proposal of the Public Conciliator. The Government of the Republic has the right to suspend a strike or a lock-out in the case of a natural disaster or catastrophe, in order to prevent the spread of an infectious disease or in a state of emergency (article 19 Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act).

Authorities’ or employers’ power to prevent or end 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 by referring the dispute 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

Where negotiations between employers and trade unions fail to reach agreement, the parties must notify the Public Conciliator if the threat of disruption to work arises (art. 6, Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act). The Public Conciliator then, establishes a program of conciliation proceedings. Parties are required to participate in conciliation proceedings, send their fully authorised representatives to participate in conciliation proceedings and submit documents necessary for the substantive resolution of the matter by the date specified by the Public Conciliator (art. 11, Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act). The right of employees or associations or federations of employees to organise a strike to resolve a labour dispute arises only if there is no prohibition against disruption of work in force, if conciliation procedures prescribed in this Act have been conducted but no conciliation has been achieved, if an agreement is not complied with, or if a court judgment is not executed (art. 13, Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act).

Undermining of the recourse to strike actions or their effectiveness

Excessive civil or penal sanctions for workers and unions involved in non-authorised 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

Resuming a strike (or lock-out) that has been declared unlawful or suspended, or commencing/resuming a strike that has been postponed before the specified time, is punishable by a fine of up to 200 fine units or detention. Organising such a strike (or lock-out) is punishable by a fine of up to 300 fine units or detention (art. 23 Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act).

Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors

Undue restrictions for “public servants”

Strikes are prohibited in governmental authorities, other state bodies and local government, the Defence League, courts and rescue service agencies (art. 21, Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act). However, a note to article 21(1) states that this section is not applied to persons who are employed under an employment contract in an institution or organisation specified in that subsection, except for rescue workers employed under an employment contract in a rescue service agency and persons employed under an employment contract in the Ministry of Defence, the Defence Resources Agency, the Defence Forces or the Defence League.

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

Article 21(3) of the Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act provides that “indispensible services and production” must be maintained in “enterprises and institutions which satisfy the primary needs of the population and economy”. Article 21(4) states that the Government will establish a list of such enterprises and institutions. No such list has been sighted.