Collective Dispute and Conciliation Procedures
Under the Labour Code, a collective dispute — a dispute between an employer and a group of employees (at least 20 employees) or between an employer and an association of employees — must be resolved through conciliation procedures: direct negotiations or mediation, where one of the parties sends a respective written notice to the minister. A party sends the other party a notice indicating precisely the ground of origin of the dispute and its demands; at any stage of the negotiations the appointment of a mediator may be requested. The mediator is appointed by the minister, who in the case of a high public interest may act on his or her own initiative without an application by a party. The parties are obliged to participate in the procedures, and at any stage of the dispute it may be referred to arbitration; the mediator must not disclose information that became known to him or her in that capacity. The conciliation stage is thus the mandatory gateway through which every collective labour dispute must pass before more confrontational instruments become available.