Statement with regard to actions against JAT employees on strike
The Belgrade Centre of Human Rights is of the opinion that the manner in which the Serbian Government and the management of JAT, which is state-owned, are dealing with the employees on strike can seriously undermine the state’s reputation. The right to strike is a human right enshrined in the Serbian Constitution. It is guaranteed by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Article 8 (1d)) which is binding on SaM and protected by the obligatory ILO Conventions 87, 98, 151 and 154.An excessively broad interpretation of minimum level of work in the public sector, invoked by the JAT management and Ministry to proclaim the strike illegal, is in contravention of the Constitution and the practice of the Constitutional Court of Serbia.
The Constitution guarantees the right to strike as an individual right of employees that is exercised collectively. Constitutionally-guaranteed rights may be restricted by law alone.
The Constitutional Court found that regulation of circumstances under which employees may exercise the right to strike by by-laws or the company CEO’s unilateral decisions is not in keeping with the Constitution. The Court’s view is in accordance with international labour standards.
Minimum level of work is a manner of exercising the right to strike. The Constitutional Court notes that the minimum level of work can also be established only by a collective agreement forged through employer-employee negotiations. However, constitutional provisions and international standards were violated when the minimum level of work in JAT was set by a Serbian Government Decree (Decree on Minimum Level of Work during a Strike in the JAT Airways Public Company, Sl. glasnik RS, 119/03).
The Decree fails to fulfil both the form and ILO provisions in terms of content. Under the Decree, AT employees must perform all their tasks during a strike, apart from those related to domestic traffic (where, again, full work stoppage is forbidden). Such restrictions are permissible only in public sector services of vital importance and in cases of collective labour disputes in public sector services and pertain to employees with public competencies. A »service of vital importance« entails an activity the stoppage of which would endanger life, health or security of people. Is air traffic in Serbia such an activity? Is the right to strike more restricted for plane mechanics than health staff?
A new Law on Strike, in conformance with the Constitution of Serbia and international standards, needs to be adopted. In this specific case, an initiative needs to be launched to determine the constitutionality of the above Decree and preclude the dismissal of JAT employees who are trying to protect their economic and social interests.
