The law prohibits discrimination against strikes and strike leaders, and a labor tribunal deals with complaints on these matters. The Constitution provides all workers with the right to strike except for government workers providing essential services such as police, armed forces, and hospital personnel. A legal 4-week strike by tilers over collective contract disputes was ended following personal mediation by the Prime Minister, averting a general strike by construction workers. This was the first legal labor strike in over 2 years. There have been no illegal strikes since 1979.
Unions maintain unrestricted contact with international bodies.
The law provides for and protects collective bargaining, which is conducted in periodic negotiations between centralized organizations of unions and employers. Enterprises having 15 or more employees must have worker representatives to conduct collective bargaining. Enterprises with over 150 employees must form joint works councils composed of equal numbers of management and employee representatives. In enterprises with more than 1,000 employees, one-third of the membership of the supervisory boards of directors must be employees' representatives. The law provides for adjudication of employment-related complaints, and it authorizes labor tribunals to deal with them.