This is the common policy line of all European trade unions and corresponding pressure has been brought to bear on decision makers in Brussels. There should be no compromise over the terms of membership. The right to organise and collective bargaining are among the minimum conditions. The right to organise and collective bargaining have not been fully realised in Latvia. One important obstacle is fear.
Union activists have plenty of evidence of employer discrimination against organised labour.
One fourth of Latvia's 800,000 employees have joined the unions. The organising rate in the public sector is higher than in the private sector. 60 per cent of the organised labour force are women. The teachers' union, with 52,000 members, is clearly the largest union. The two health sector unions together have a total of 20,000 members.