Collective agreements cover around 34% of all employees, however, coverage is higher in the public services at around 55% in health and 90% in electricity. Overall around 14% of employees are in trade unions. Membership is higher in some areas of the public services – 33% in health and social work and 68% in electricity, for example.

General information on industrial relations in Latvia is available at the ETUI’s worker participation website and the EIRO website

Collective bargaining system

The Latvian constitution includes the right to collective bargaining and there are several specific laws regulating trade union and employment relations. The Law on Trade Unions was adopted in 1990 and then amended in 2003. According to the Article 10 of this Law, trade unions conclude collective agreements on behalf of their members. Trade unions are to be registered by the Republican Register of Enterprises. A trade union has to comprise at least 50 members, or at least a quarter of all people employed in the company concerned. This requirement has been criticised by the ILO Committee of Experts on the Applications of Conventions and Recommendations as excessively high.

The law does not establish any bodies for social dialogue. The National Tripartite Council does not intervene into collective bargaining, although its sub-council may establish some principles or general guidelines that social partners may follow when negotiating collective agreements.

Collective bargaining takes place mainly at local, company level and in the public sector. There are some sectoral agreements, particularly in the public sector, in various civil service and public companies, for example, energy and water suppliers and forests.

Higher level collective agreements are more like policy documents, dealing with questions of social partnership, rather than collective bargaining on employment conditions.

The collective labour law permits, in addition to trade union representation, a works council elected by all employees. Works councils can conclude collective agreements at company level and organise industrial action.

Legal regulation of pay and working conditions

Some conditions are established in legislation. There is a 40-hour statutory working week and 20 days’ annual leave and collective agreements rarely provide for any different arrangements. Other conditions are also established in law such as additional payments for shift work and overtime.

Trade unions

There is a single central trade union organisation – the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia (LBAS) with 24 affiliated trade unions.