Social Rights

The European Committee of Social Rights adopted during its 324^th session (6-10 December 2021):

• The decision on admissibility in European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (FNV) and National Federation of Christian Trade Unions (CNV) v. the Netherlands, Complaint No. 201/2021

The ETUC, FNV and CNV allege that the assessment by the Dutch Supreme Court regarding restrictions on collective action, namely with reference to an excessively broad framework of criteria and not strictly on the basis of Article 6§4 and Article G of the Revised European Social Charter, is not in conformity with the aforementioned provisions of the Charter. The complainants further allege that the way in which the assessment framework defined by the Supreme Court is applied in the lower courts goes beyond what is provided by Article G of the Charter, lacks the character of being stable and foreseeable and thus does not afford sufficient protection in procedures before the courts.

The Committee unanimously declared the complaint admissible on 7 December 2021.

• The decision on the merits in Unione sindacale di base –settore pubblico impiego (USB) v. Italy, Complaint No. 153/2017

The complaint was registered on 13 July 2017. USB alleged that regional and national legislation and case law do not adequately protect public sector workers employed by the municipalities in Sicily from abuses arising from the successive renewal of their fixed-term employment contracts in violation of the applicable legislation regarding such renewals, insofar as such contracts cannot be converted into indefinite duration contracts upon completion of a certain length of service, contrary to what applies in the private sector. USB alleged that this situation is in violation of Articles 1 (the right to work), 4 (the right to a fair remuneration), 5 (the right to organise), 6§4 (the right to bargain collectively – collective action), 24 (the right to protection in case of dismissal) and E ((non-discrimination) of the Revised European Social Charter.

Pursuant to Article 8§2 of the Protocol providing for a system of collective complaints, this decision will not be made public until after the Committee of Ministers has adopted a resolution, or no later than four months after it has been transmitted to the Committee of Ministers.