Sweden

In Sweden the details of terms of working conditions and wages are regulated in collective agreements which are signed by the employers’ organization and the national trade union.

Germany

Only recognised trade unions can negotiate collective agreements. All trade unions of the DGB (German Trade union Congress) are recognised unions. CA exists usually at a sectoral level – regional or national. But also it’s an increasing number of CA at company level. In road transport CA are usually at a regional sectoral level. For contract workers there are two CA at a national level. Wage agreements are usually existing for one – two years. CA on working time, holidays etc. Are usually for a longer term ( 3 – 5 years).

Lituania

Collective agreements on the enterprise level, mostly for 2 years or by employer‘s regulation

Poland

A collective agreement for the transport trade is being developed, currently there are no collective agreements, each employer offers different conditions.

Latvia

According to the Labour Law

General Provisions of Collective Agreements_<

Content and Form of Collective Agreements

(1) Parties to a collective agreement shall reach agreement on the provisions regulating the content of employment legal relationships, in particular the organisation of work remuneration and labour protection, establishment and termination of employment legal relationships, improvement of qualifications, work procedures, social security of employees and other issues related to employment legal relationships, and shall determine mutual rights and duties.

A collective agreement shall be entered into in writing.

Parties to a Collective Agreement

(1) A collective agreement in an undertaking shall be entered into by the employer and an employee trade union or by authorised employee representatives if the employees have not formed a trade union.

(2) A collective agreement in a sector or territory (hereinafter – general agreement) shall be entered into by an employer, a group of employers, an organisation of employers or an association of organisations of employers, and an employee trade union or an association (union) of employee trade unions if the parties to the general agreement have relevant authorisation or if the right to enter into a general agreement is provided for by the articles of association of such associations (unions).

(3) A general agreement entered into by an organisation of employers or an association of organisations of employers shall be binding on members of the organisation or the association of organisations.

(4) If members of an organisation of employers or an association of organisations of employers employ more than 60 per cent of the employees in a sector, a general agreement entered into between the organisation of employers or association of organisations of employers and an employee trade union or an association (union) of employee trade unions shall be binding on all employers of the relevant sector and shall apply to all employees employed by the employers.

Effect of Collective Agreements in Time

(1) A collective agreement shall be entered into for a specified period of time or for a period of time required for the performance of specific work. A collective agreement shall come into effect on the date it was entered into, unless the collective agreement specifies another time for coming into effect. If a collective agreement does not specify a time of effect, the collective agreement shall be deemed to have been entered into for one year.

(2) A collective agreement may be terminated before the expiry of its term on the basis of:

1) agreement by the parties; or

2) notice of termination by one party if such right has been agreed upon in the collective agreement.

(3) Upon termination of a collective agreement its provisions, with the exception of the duty specified in Section 17, Paragraph two, Clause 1 of this Law, shall apply up to the time of coming into effect of a new collective agreement, unless agreed otherwise by the parties.

Effect of a Collective Agreement with Respect to Persons

(1) A collective agreement shall be binding on the parties and its provisions shall apply to all employees who are employed by the relevant employer or in a relevant undertaking of the employer, unless provided for otherwise in the collective agreement. It shall be of no consequence whether employment legal relationships with the employee were established prior to or after the coming into effect of the collective agreement.

(2) An employee and an employer may derogate from the provisions of a collective agreement only if the relevant provisions of the employment contract are more favourable to the employee.

Procedures for Entering into a Collective Agreement

(1) The entering into of a collective agreement shall be proposed by employee representatives, the employer or the organisations or their associations (unions) referred to in Section 18 of this Law. An employer, an employer’s organisation or an employers organisation association is not entitled to refuse to enter into negotiations regarding the entering into of a collective agreement (general agreement).

(2) A reply in writing to a proposal regarding the entering into of a collective agreement shall be provided within a 10-day period from the date of receipt of the proposal.

(3) Parties to the entering into of a collective agreement shall organise negotiations and agree on the procedures for the formulation and discussion of the collective agreement. The parties may invite specialists to such negotiations, establish working groups including in them an equal number of representatives of both parties, as well as independently formulate a draft collective agreement.

(4) An employer, at the request of employee representatives, has a duty to provide to the representatives the necessary information required for the entering into of a collective agreement.

(5) If during the course of negotiations agreement on the procedures for formulation and discussion of a collective agreement or the content of the collective agreement is not reached due to the objections of one party, such party has a duty, not later than within a 10-day period, to give a reply in writing to the proposals expressed by the other party. If a draft of the whole collective agreement is received, a reply in writing shall be provided not later than within a one-month period and the party shall include in it its objections and proposals regarding the draft.

(6) Any employee has the right to submit in writing to the parties to a collective agreement his or her proposals with respect to a draft collective agreement.

Approval of a Collective Agreement

(1) In order for a collective agreement entered into by an undertaking to be valid, its approval at a general meeting (conference) of employees is required.

(2) The collective agreement shall be approved by a simple majority vote at a general meeting at which at least half the employees of the relevant undertaking participate.

(3) If it is impossible to convene a general meeting of employees due to the large number of employees employed by an undertaking or due to the nature of work organisation, the collective agreement shall be approved by a simple majority vote at a conference of employee representatives at which at least half of the employee representatives participate.

Familiarisation with a Collective Agreement

(1) An employer has a duty to familiarise all employees with the collective agreement not later than within a one-month period from its approval or from the time of amendments made to the provisions of the collective agreement.

(2) An employer has a duty to make the text of a collective agreement available to every employee.

In the enterprises in which members of Latvian Trade union of Public service and Transport workers LAKRS work, collective agreements work consist at a level of the enterprise. Now negotiations are under way with the purpose to conclude the general agreement between Trade union LAKRS and the Latvian Association of passenger traffic.