The right to collective bargaining in the military, police, and public sector. A comparative law perspective

Abstract

The right to collective bargaining is regulated differently depending on the legal system. A common basis does exist, however: this is the International Labour Organisation Convention no. 154 (1981), ratified by 50 states, including most of the member states of the European Union. However, with regard to police and military personnel, ILO Convention 154 leaves it to the discretion of the national law-maker to determine the extent to which the guarantees provided for in the Convention apply. Indeed, according to Articles 1 (2) and (3) of Convention 154, the extent to which the guarantees provided for in this Convention apply to the armed forces and the police may be determined by national laws or regulations or national practice. As regards the public service, special modalities of application of this Convention may be fixed by national laws or regulations or national practice. The paper will include a comparative analysis of the application of these provisions in 12 Member States of the European Union. Finally, we will try to draw up a relevant table as to how each national legislator understood to regulate this sensitive subject.