Montenegro - 2011

Population:
Capital:
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 limited both by restrictive legislation and by pressure from employers. In at least one case the employer refused to comply with court orders to reinstate illegally dismissed workers.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Background

The European Council granted Montenegro EU candidate status on 17 December 2010, but the opening of accession negotiations will have to wait until the country fulfils a list of set conditions. Long term Prime Minister Milo Đukanović unexpectedly stepped down only a few days after. Although the resignation was explained with private reasons, the opposition saw it as result of international pressure due to corruption and organised crime in the country.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
Population:
Capital:

reported violations- 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Trade union rights in law

Although the Labour Code provides for basic trade union rights, it contains excessive restrictions. The 2007 Constitution and 2008 Labour Law recognise the right to form and join trade unions, and the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees grants that right to said categories of workers. 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 the fact that only the most representative unions, that is unions with the largest membership, can be parties to collective agreements. Furthermore, the law stipulates that 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 may be limited for persons employed in state bodies and public service on grounds of protecting the public interest. A minimum service minimum service The operations needed in a public or private establishment during a strike, normally to avoid compromising the life or basic needs of the population or causing irreversible damages.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework must also be established in a number of services following consultations with the relevant trade union. Albeit the 2005 Law on Strikes improved the situation, the employer can still decide on the minimum service minimum service The operations needed in a public or private establishment during a strike, normally to avoid compromising the life or basic needs of the population or causing irreversible damages.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework unilaterally if negotiations with the union fail.
Additional information regarding the legislation
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
Population:
Capital:

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

In practice

Anti-union discrimination: Dismissals, demotions and discrimination of trade union activists are not uncommon. 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 often limited in practice, and trade unionists face reprisals including threats of dismissals for their union activism. Restrictive laws on 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 and highly flexible employment relations amplify the problem.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
Population:
Capital:

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Violations

Pressure and intimidation before strike: Prior to 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 announced for 5 May 2010, the management of Kombinat aluminija Podgorica distributed questionnaires to the workers, asking them about their satisfaction with the work of the trade union and asking them to certify that they would not join 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 . Management also put pressure on two members of trade union committee, Sandra Obradović and Radovan Tošković, issuing them written warnings with threat of dismissal on the grounds of absence from the workplace, although the absence was due to trade union activities. Other workers were threatened with dismissals too. 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 was cancelled on 30 April after the management accepted to comply with the collective agreement and withdraw the planned dismissals.
Right to strike violated: Crnogorski Telekom, in Podgorica, restricted 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 of its workers who went on 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 on 15 March 2010 due to violations of the collective agreement. The employer unilaterally imposed a requirement for 300 workers to work despite 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 and prohibited them from wearing badges or other symbols of solidarity for 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 action. On the fourth day 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 , the employer also brought in strikebreakers from two other companies, GVD Mont and Network.
Trade unionists repressed and discriminated against:

The construction company Novi Prvoborac, in Herceg Novi, has refused to bargain collectively, has violated 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 and has illegally dismissed workers since 2008. At least nine workers, including Zdravko Stevović, then president of the trade union AD Novi Prvoborac, have been dismissed since 2008 because of participating in 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 . Harassment of trade union leaders have also been reported, and prohibiting trade union meetings has also been a recurring practice.

Between 2008 and 2010, the courts have overruled a total of 71 dismissal decisions in the company as illegal, including the mentioned cases, but the employer has still not complied with the judicial decisions and allowed workers to return to work. Due to the above mentioned reasons, in June 2010 the company trade union organisation filed a criminal complaint against the management with the State Attorney’s Office.

Workers forced to join employer sponsored union: The Trade Union of Post of Montenegro claimed in November 2010 that the management was forcing the workers to leave their union and join a new union organised by the company directors. The management was also said to violate the collective agreement by unilaterally reducing the working time for certain categories of workers.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
Population:
Capital:

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
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