The Employer Can Seek an Injunction Against Strikes and Compensation in Court

Recently, we have often witnessed disputes between employers and employees related to collective agreements. A collective agreement is an institute of labor law regulated by the Labor Law, and it is the result of successfully conducted negotiations between the employer or an association of employers and the union or an association of unions representing the interests of employees. It regulates the rights and obligations of the parties that have concluded this agreement or subsequently become members of the association that concluded the collective agreement, in relation to the employment relationship.

The collective agreement directly applies to the rights of employees and employers as well as the employment contract, internal acts of the employer, or laws that regulate issues arising from the employment relationship. States can prescribe the obligation of collective bargaining and the conclusion of collective agreements through their national legislation, but in Croatia, there is currently no obligation to conclude a collective agreement and engage in union negotiations.

Good Faith Negotiation

The goal of collective bargaining is to reach a quality agreement while satisfying the interests and mutual respect of the negotiating parties. In the event that the parties voluntarily decide to engage in collective bargaining or conclude a collective agreement to achieve a quality collective agreement that will regulate the rights and obligations of employees and employers, the legislator has obliged the parties to negotiate in good faith. It is important to note that the obligation to negotiate in good faith binds both parties, both the employer or the association of employers and the union or the association of unions.

Although the goal of collective bargaining is to conclude an agreement that reflects the will of both contracting parties, the result of the negotiations does not always have to be the conclusion of a collective agreement; rather, the parties freely decide whether to conclude it and regulate all rights and obligations that were the subject of negotiations or only part of them. Therefore, for the conclusion of a collective agreement, a written expression of the will of the negotiating parties is necessary.

If the employer opposes the conclusion of a collective agreement, the court does not have the authority to order him to conclude it – such an agreement can only be concluded by the will of the parties. In such situations, unions or associations of unions use various means of pressure to achieve their interests, of which the strongest means of pressure is certainly the threat of a strike or the strike itself, or the threat of a lockout or a lockout as the employer’s response to the strike.

The Strike Must Justify Its Purpose

A strike can be initiated to protect and promote the economic and social interests of its union members (Article 205, paragraph 1 of the Labor Law), non-payment of wages or part of wages, or wage compensation if they have not been paid by the due date. The Labor Law does not provide a definition of the economic and social interests for which a strike is permitted; rather, this is assessed by the court depending on the circumstances of the specific case.

The law grants the union the right to use a strike as a means of pressure in the realization of its rights in the collective bargaining process, and the employer the right to seek a lockout or a court injunction against the strike in response to the strike.

Before applying these means of pressure, workers need to properly assess what goal they will actually achieve with the strike, what consequences it may cause them, and whether their reasons for the strike are justified, and thus whether the strike is lawful. Namely, according to the provision of Article 217 of the Labor Law, the employer can request from the competent court an injunction against organizing and initiating a strike contrary to legal provisions, as well as compensation for damages caused by such a strike.

The Best is – Agreement

The consequence of a strike, without considering whether there is a real need for this form of action, is a permanently disrupted relationship between the employer and the employees. Employees suffer material consequences because for employees excluded from work, the employer is obliged to pay contributions on the lowest base determined by special regulations, which is why they remain without regular income during the strike.

Due to the agitation of certain unions that offer members monetary compensation for participating in the strike, whose primary goal is not to protect the interests of those members, workers fall into the traps of the strike and agree to such actions even though they do not have solid and justified reasons for it. Therefore, employers successfully obtain court injunctions against the strike and seek compensation for the damages caused to them by the unions. The parties do not have to engage in collective bargaining and proceed to conclude a collective agreement. If they autonomously decide to engage in negotiations, the first means to achieve a quality collective agreement should be communication and mutual respect, while the strike should only be a last resort for workers in achieving their rights and interests, and this after considering all its consequences, while the exclusion of workers from work or a court injunction against the strike is the employer’s response to that.