Demir and Baykara v Turkey · Application 34503/97
European Court of Human Rights, Grand Chamber · 12 November 2008
Municipal employees formed a union and negotiated pay and working conditions with a council. When the union tried to enforce the agreement, the domestic proceedings ended with its legal standing denied and the agreement undone retrospectively. Months of negotiation had produced terms the employees could no longer rely on.
Two interferences with freedom of association
Strasbourg found Article 11 violations both in denying these municipal civil servants the right to form a union and in setting aside their collective agreement. The Grand Chamber recognised collective bargaining with the employer as an essential element, in principle, of trade union freedom. The state had failed to justify the interferences in this case.
What to take to a union representative
Identify who concluded the agreement, the employees it covers, the term in dispute and the decision that prevented its operation. A payslip may establish the amount at issue while minutes or correspondence show what the parties agreed. Article 11 leaves room for national bargaining systems and rules on representative unions. The judgment does not guarantee agreement on a particular wage or make every pay dispute a Strasbourg claim.
Read the Grand Chamber judgment
Explore the European Case Law Journal · Individual consultation times and fees
