What are the consequences of participating in an illegal strike?
A strike is one of the methods of settling collective disputes arising in the workplace between the employer and employees. Only a strike that meets the conditions set out in the labor law is legal.
A strike, which is a form of settling a collective dispute between employees and an employer, consists in the collective abstention of employees from performing work. A strike that concerns working conditions, pay or social benefits as well as trade union rights and freedoms of employees or other groups who have the right to associate in trade unions is considered legal. A strike is the ultimate way to resolve conflicts between employees and their employer. Previously, in order to resolve the conflict, employees should reach for negotiations and mediation. Employees are not obliged to initiate negotiations or mediation in the first place in a situation where the employer’s unlawful actions prevent them from taking place or in a situation where the employer terminated the employment contract with the trade union activist conducting the dispute.
It should be noted that the participation of each employee in the strike is voluntary, and thus each employee participating in the strike may withdraw from it at any time. Representatives of not all professions are guaranteed the right to strike. Pursuant to the Act of 23 May 1991 on resolving collective disputes, police officers, border guards and prison guards, among others, do not have the right to strike. In addition, the ban on stopping work as a result of a strike at workplaces, offices and installations where giving up work poses a threat to human life and health and the security of the state is fully justified.
A factory strike is admissible, and thus announced by a trade union organization, after consent of the majority of voting employees, when at least 50% of employees took part in the vote. employees of a given workplace. A multi-employer strike is admissible if the consent of the majority of voters in the workplaces that are to be covered by the strike has been obtained, and at least half of the employees participated in the voting in each of these workplaces.
The right to strike constitutes the fundamental trade union freedom, which was emphasized by the Supreme Court in the judgment of 7 February 2007 (I PK 209/2006), and thus the employee’s refraining from performing his duties in connection with participation in a legal strike does not will constitute a breach of basic employee duties. Pursuant to the judgment of the Supreme Court of February 7, 2007, I PK 209/2006, the criterion for assessing the legality of a strike is determined by the provisions of the Act, and a strike may be illegal to varying degrees, depending on the scope and severity of the breach of the Act. The degree of illegality of a strike affects the responsibility for organizing or participating in it. Participation in an illegal strike constitutes a violation by the employee of basic employee duties and may result in termination of the employment contract with the employee in disciplinary proceedings. In order to be held liable for participating in an illegal strike, the employee must be aware of its illegality. Participation in a strike, the illegality of which came to light only after the legality of the strike referendum was examined by the court, will not constitute a violation of basic employee duties.
Projekt otrzymał dofinansowanie z Norwegii poprzez Fundusze Norweskie 2014-2021, w ramach programu „Dialog społeczny – godna praca”.