Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Lithuania (Ratification: 1994)

The Committee notes the observations of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) received on 29 August 2025, which are of a general nature.

The Committee notes that the Labour Code adopted in 2017 was amended in 2021, 2023 and 2024 and observes that the amendments do not seem to address the issues previously examined by the Committee.

Article 3 of the Convention. Right of workers’ organization to organize their activities and formulate their programmes. The Committee previously noted that section 244(1) of the Labour Code defined a strike as a work stoppage to settle a collective labour dispute over interests and requested the Government to indicate whether under the legislation in force trade unions could have recourse to protest strikes against the Government’s economic and social policies. The Committee notes that the Government reiterates the content of section 244(1) and adds that pickets, protests and marches against the Government are not regulated by the Labour Code, but that trade unions can participate in such actions, in line with the procedure under the Law on Assemblies. While taking note of the above, the Committee recalls that strikes relating to the Government’s economic and social policies, including general strikes, are legitimate and workers’ organizations should be able to use strike action, that is, an organized stoppage of work, to support their position in the search for solutions to problems posed by major social or economic policy trends which have a direct impact on their members, irrespective of whether national legislation allows for other forms of public expressions of protest (2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, para. 124). The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures, in consultation with the social partners, to ensure that workers’ organizations are allowed to engage in strikes beyond those linked to collective labour disputes, including in strikes against the Government’s economic and social policies, and to provide information on any developments in this regard.

The Committee also notes that section 248 of the Labour Code, as amended, stipulates that, besides the prohibition on the right to strike of employees engaged in emergency medical services, other categories of workers whose right to declare a strike is limited bylaws are prohibited from declaring a strike. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the categories of workers covered by the latter restriction.

The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that the Internal Service Statute (ISS) contains the main provisions governing the activities of trade unions in the internal service system, defined as the totality of statutory institutions of the spheres of Government, entrusted to the Ministers of the Interior, Justice and Finance, which include, among others, statutory vocational education and training institutions (sections 1, 2(10) and 4). The Committee observes that officials of statutory institutions (civil servants) may be members of trade unions (sections 21(1)(4) and 62(1)) but are prohibited from participating in strikes (section 23(1)(7)) and trade unions operating in statutory institutions may not organize or participate in strikes and in pickets and rallies that directly interfere with the activities of a statutory body or an official’s duties (section 63). The Committee recalls that while restrictions or prohibitions on the right to strike may be permissible for public servants exercising authority in the name of the State, such limitations must not extend to public servants who do not exercise such authority, including public sector teachers and civilian personnel in military and police institutions. The Committee therefore requests the Government to clarify whether those public servants governed by the ISS who do not exercise authority in the name of the State, in particular public servants in statutory vocational education and training institutions (sections 4(1)(3) and 4(2)(3)) and civilian personnel in military institutions, can participate in strikes.

Article 5. Right of organizations to establish federations and confederations. National-level organizations. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, pursuant to section 179(4) of the Labour Code, trade unions at the national level must fulfil certain criteria, including be composed of at least seven different branch and (or) territorial level trade union organizations, the branches of which operate in at least two thirds of the counties of the country; organize at least 15 per cent of all members of Lithuanian trade unions; and belong to the EU or European Economic Area organizations or other international organizations in which more than half of the members are EU Member States or to an international organization in which more than half of the EU Member States participate and pay membership fees. The Committee observes from the text of the Labour Code that the latter criteria were also introduced to section 182(5) which stipulates the requirements for employers’ organizations at the national level. Recalling that requirements concerning the structure and composition of organizations must be established in a reasonable manner, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on how these requirements are applied in practice and, in particular to indicate whether the establishment of national workers’ and employers’ organizations has not been hindered since the introduction of the above amendments. Should this be the case, the Committee requests the Government to review the relevant provisions, in consultation with the social partners, to ensure that they do not impede the development of trade unions and employers’ organizations at the national level.