Zbiorowy spór pracy w polskim ustawodawstwie i praktyce

Abstract

The subject-matter of the article are the problems of collective labour disputes (chapter 5 of the Act of Oct. 8, 1982 on Trade Unions). The second part of the article is devoted to the notion of a collective labour dispute according to the Polish law. A collective labour dispute is defined as a conflict arising from a threat to economic and social interests of a given group of employees. Much attention has been devoted to the scope of a concept of an interest in the light of sociological and economic theories, and to the distinction between general and professional interests. The above problems are discussed on the example of some labour disputes in Polish enterprises in years 1984 — 1986 concluded by decisions of Social Arbitration Boards, i.e. the institutions provided for in the Trade Unions Act. The considerations lead to the conclusion that a collective dispute in its legal sense, as a conflict of interests, must have the features of a conflict of interests which are inherently connected with a socio-lega! status of a person as an employee and not with his/her status as a citizen, as a member of a political party, a social organization or a religious association, etc. The Act provides for two categories of collective labour disputes: disputes on an enterprise and supra-enteprise level. The article analyses in detail the criteria delimiting those two categories and gives examples of various ways of understanding those criteria in the judicial practice of the State court, especially the Supreme Court and Boards of Social Arbitration.