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The Committee takes note of the Government’s first report. It also takes note of the comments made by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CITU BiH) and the Confederation of Trade Unions of the Republika Srpska (CTURS), which were transmitted with the Government’s report.

Article 1 of the Convention. Protection against anti-union discrimination. The Committee notes that, the CITU BiH and the CTURS refer to various forms of pressure and intimidation in recently established private companies to prevent workers from establishing trade unions as well as dismissals of trade union representatives without the mandatory approval from the Federal Ministry of Labour; although the Labour Law contains provisions on the prohibition of discrimination, it is impossible to prove the breaches of these provisions at court because discrimination often takes place in a hidden manner.

The Committee recalls that the existence of general legal provisions prohibiting acts of anti-union discrimination is not enough if they are not accompanied by effective and rapid procedures to ensure their application in practice and in particular, to prevent or effectively redress anti-union discrimination (see General Survey of 1994 on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraph 214). The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide its observations with regard to the comments made by the CITU BiH and the CTURS and in particular, to provide information on the practical application of the provisions in question (number of complaints of anti-union discrimination filed, forms of anti-union discrimination complained of, action taken by the authorities, decisions of the courts, length of procedures, etc.).

Article 2. Protection against acts of interference from employers’ and workers’ organizations into each other’s establishment, functioning or administration. The Committee notes that although both the Labour Law of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Labour Law of the Republika Srpska contain an explicit prohibition of acts of interference from employers’ and workers’ organizations into each other’s establishment, functioning or administration, there is no provision in either law on a specific mechanism to address allegations of interference or any sanctions specified in this respect. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the provisions which establish a rapid appeals procedure against acts of interference and introduce sufficiently dissuasive sanctions in this respect.

Article 4. Measures to encourage and promote the development of voluntary negotiation between employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee takes note of the comments made by the CTURS according to which the governments of both Entities of the Republic do not undertake the necessary measures to promote collective bargaining; in particular, the Labour Law requires the compulsory issuing of rule books on work by the employer on which trade unions can only provide their opinion, while the law should distinguish more clearly between the area covered by rule books and the area left for free and voluntary negotiations between trade unions and employers (e.g. salaries and allowances). The Committee requests the Government to provide its observations on the comments made by the CTURS with regard to the effect of the compulsory issuing of rule books on the scope of collective bargaining. It further requests the Government to indicate any measures taken or contemplated to promote free and voluntary collective bargaining at the level of the two entities and the Republic as a whole.

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Committee observes that section 118 of the Labour Law of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina provides that collective agreements and their amendments shall be submitted to the Federal Ministry in charge of labour or the competent authority of the canton. The procedure of submission shall be regulated by the federal minister or the competent cantonal minister. The Committee recalls that the intervention of the administrative authority should be limited to cases in which the collective agreement has a procedural flaw or does not conform to the minimum standards laid down by general labour legislation. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the practical application of this provision, for instance, on the number of cases of refusal to approve a collective agreement in the last years and the concrete grounds invoked for such refusal.

Republika Srpska. The Committee observes that section 131 of the Labour Law of the Republika Srpska provides that if a collective agreement is negotiated at the level of the whole Republika, the Government will be a party to it along with the trade union and the employers’ association. Sections 131 and 132 also enable the parties to collective bargaining to invite the Government to become a party to a collective agreement if the latter is negotiated at the branch or industry levels.

The Committee stresses that Article 4 of the Convention refers to the promotion of bilateral negotiations between employers or their organizations and workers’ organizations without any intervention whatsoever by the public authorities which would be contrary to the free and voluntary nature of collective bargaining. The Committee therefore requests the Government to amend sections 131 and 132 of the Labour Law so as to eliminate the possibility for the Government to be involved as a party in the negotiation of collective agreements at the branch or industry levels, in addition to the employer or employers’ organization and workers’ organization concerned.