5.  The applicant was born in 1972 and lives in Zheleznodorozhnyy, Moscow Region.
6.  The applicant was a locomotive driver with Russian Railways in the Moscow Region. He was a member of one of the railway workers’ trade unions, Rosprofzhel (“the trade union”).
7.  On 7 April 2008 the trade union entered into negotiations with Russian Railways, seeking a general pay raise and the introduction of long‑service bonuses for the relevant staff. As the negotiations failed, the trade union decided to organise a strike. On 25 April 2008 the trade union committee decided that the staff of Russian Railways in two suburban Moscow sectors should participate in the strike as from 4 a.m. on 28 April 2008. The trade union committee’s decision referred to minimum services which would be provided during the strike, although the parties have not made any submissions in this regard.
8.  Russian Railways did not apply to the courts for the strike to be declared unlawful. On 28 April 2008 the applicant took part in the strike. He came to work but refused to take up his duties. The strike caused delays in circulation of the trains in the sector where the applicant worked.
9.  On 9 July 2008 the applicant was dismissed for two breaches of disciplinary rules. The first breach ascribed to him had had no relation to his trade union activities. (A year previously, on 8 June 2007, the applicant had been officially reprimanded for having stopped the train 50 metres after the platform). The second breach was the applicant’s refusal to take up his duties during the strike on 28 April 2008.
10.  The applicant complained to a court that he should not have been dismissed for having participated in the strike organised by his trade union.
11.  On 19 August 2008 the case was heard by the Meschanskiy District Court of Moscow (“the District Court”). The court confirmed the lawfulness of the applicant’s dismissal for a repeated failure to properly perform his professional duties. Regarding the applicant’s participation in the strike, the court relied on the Railway Acts of 1995 and 2003 (Articles 17 and 26 (2) respectively – see paragraphs 15 and 17 below). The Acts prohibited strikes of railway workers responsible, inter alia, for the circulation of trains, shunting, and services to passengers. The court stressed that those limitations were aimed at securing safety on the railway and that railway workers were subjected to stricter disciplinary rules than workers in other sectors of industry. The applicant was a locomotive driver; therefore, his work was directly linked to the circulation of trains, shunting, and the provision of services to passengers. The District Court concluded that the applicant had been precluded from participating in the strike. Relying on a report dated 29 April 2008 issued by the Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor’s Office, the District Court furthermore noted that the strike had caused a number of cancelled and delayed trains which had resulted in “massive violations of the rights and lawful interests of citizens, leading to their belated arrival at their workplaces and educational institutions, at medical facilities providing health care, [and] for long-distance trains, bus runs and flights”. The strike had also “contributed to the mass gathering of people on railway platforms, which [had] directly threatened their safety”. Given the above and the applicant’s earlier transgression, his dismissal had been justified. The District Court did not discuss the question of whether advance notice of the strike had been given or other issues related to the lawfulness of the strike of 28 April 2008.
12.  On 29 January 2009, following an appeal by the applicant, the Moscow City Court confirmed the judgment of 19 August 2008.