Working Life Barometer in the Baltic Countries 2002 (pdf) - mol.fi

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that are currently in effect contain no single definition of this conception
because in every specific case of regulated relations the composition of
partners may differ. Speaking about labour relations and relations related to
work, employee’s and employer’s organizations co-ordinating their positions
among themselves on important labour, social and economic issues are
regarded as social partners. (Social Report 2000, p. 67)
Trade unions as social partner is legitimated in the Labour Code. It is set that
the rights and interests of employees in enterprises can be represented by trade
unions that can be established according to the Law on Trade Unions. No
exact data on the number of trade unions currently operating in Lithuania and
the number of employees they unite is available as there is no general register.
Many local trade unions that operate in one municipality or county do not
participate in larger associations, centres or federations of trade unions.
On national level three trade union organizations operate in Lithuania:
Lithuanian Trade Union ‘Solidarity’, which unites 28 territorial unions of
workers and 10 industrial trade union federations, with a membership of about
52 thousand; Lithuanian Workers Federation, which unites 12 branch trade
unions, with a membership of about 20 thousand; and the biggest one –
Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation, uniting 24 branch trade unions.
(Social Report 2000, p. 69; data of trade unions)
No less problematic is the situation of another social partner – employer
organizations. A legal problem of regulation of the activity of employer
organizations is that thus far no valid specific legal act has been drawn up to
define the status of the employer organization as social partner, to establish its
obligations and rights, which reveal themselves through a social dialogue. At
present all functioning employer organizations follow the Law on
Associations in their activity, however this law neither establishes nor defines
those features that are characteristic of those organizations as one of the
participants of the social dialogue. (Social Report 2000, p. 70)
Neither exact data about the number of branch and regional employer
organizations in Lithuania or detailed data about the percentage of
undertakings and their workers represented in the employer organizations are
available. Two large employer organizations function on the national level: