Agreement
on cooperation for trade union
legal protection between
member unions of the ETF (railways section)
Preamble
As part of the joining together of European nations and increasing cross-border transport the member unions of the ETF (railways section) who have signed this legal protection agreement believe it necessary to intensify their cooperation when it comes to trade union legal protection and to agree compulsory rules for mutual assistance.
It is the will of the unions signing the agreement that other ETF unions (railways section) should be able to join.
Article 1
The ETF unions (railways section) that have signed the agreement are obliged to provide mutual assistance if one of its members from another contracting party’s organisation requires legal assistance regarding their occupation or union activities.
Article 2
The mutual assistance comprises the union that has been requested to provide assistance by another contracting partner providing a statement on the material and procedural legal position, assisting in the selection and appointment of lawyers and assessors, introducing any necessary urgent or emergency actions and providing assistance for the complete legal protection procedure, including settling costs with lawyers, assessors, courts and administrative authorities.
Beyond the direct legal assistance in the legal protection procedure, the parties involved must ensure personal, medical and psychological support for members or victims of an accident or any violent crime.
Article 3
The agreed cooperation covers all legal protection proceedings that the unions signing this agreement provide to their members.
Article 4
The union to whom the affected member belongs exclusively decides on the provision and scope of the legal protection. It retains all the decision-making with regard to the legal protection issue.
Article 5
The legal protection costs incurred, such as legal, assessment and court costs, as well as any other costs that are directly related to the legal protection case are borne exclusively by the union that is providing the legal protection for its own members.
Article 6
The union providing the assistance to another union signatory of the agreement bears its costs incurred in fulfilling this agreement itself, e.g. personnel, travel, communication costs. There is no mutual reimbursement of costs. The unions signing this contract discharge each other from any liability.
Article 7
The unions signing this contract provide mutual assurance of rapid assistance.
Article 8
This agreement comes into force for the unions signing it and any that may join later on the date on which it is signed.
Any legal protection agreements existing between the unions signing this agreement cease when this agreement comes into effect.
Place, Date
______
Name and function of the undersigned
Name and address of the union
Annex
Explanatory memorandum to the
Agreement
on the cooperation for trade union legal protection
between member unions of the ETF (Railway Section)
- Assistance Agreement -
As it is stated in the preamble, the Agreement on the cooperation for trade union legal protection (assistance agreement) only serves the purpose of strengthening cooperation between the ETF member unions regarding such trade union legal protection as they grant to their own members. The Agreement is to be understood as an act of solidarity between the member unions. It is primarily intended for mutual assistance in connection with an optimum service provision to the unions’ own members.
The Agreement is addressed to the trade unions and not to the individual trade union members.
The Agreement does not in any way affect the sovereignty and responsibility of the individual unions regarding issues, which relate to the provision of legal protection for their respective members. Each union continues to be responsible for the decision, “whether” and “how” legal protection shall be granted to their own members.
Article 4 of the Assistance Agreement therefore doubtlessly regulates the following: “whether” and “how” legal protection shall be granted. This is the sole responsibility of the respective national trade union, in which the member in question (or concerned) is organised in his/her own country.
Pursuant to the Agreement, the national trade union, in which the need for legal assistance has occurred, shall only provide assistance within the scope of its own opportunities. This assistance concerns the investigation of the subject matter, information on the local legal situation, the provision of names of legal counsels and experts etc., for example.
This Agreement does not affect the obligations of the employer, who has to guarantee that the employee in question will be taken care of in case of an accident, for example.
The Agreement specifically does not provide for granting or funding legal assistance as such. It does not include the retention of attorneys, experts or funding for lawsuits irrespective of the fact that they are conducted before the court or out-of-court. The Agreement only holds the assisting union responsible for organising this assistance (providing names of attorneys, experts etc. and establishing contacts for assistance) in connection with the legal assistance as such, which is provided by the member’s home union.
For reasons of practicability and efficiency, there is no mutual reimbursement of the costs incurred for the assistance services rendered with respect to the (rather general and low-cost) organisation of assistance.
There will be an annual report to the ETF on cross-border co-operation in the framework of the Assistance Agreement. This report shall also provide information on the number of occasions, when individual unions were asked to provide assistance. After a suitable period of experience, the Section may then discuss options for adjustments or improvements.
Practical procedure:
Every ETF member union signing this agreement will nominate a contact (name, e-mail address, mobile phone) to whom another signatory union may turn in the event that a member or this union has an accident or other problems in the country concerned and requires assistance.
This contact will assist in
o providing the names of attorneys, experts etc.;
o establishing contacts for assistance;
o providing practical information;
o providing information about the most important legal rights and procedures.
It would be helpful, if every signatory union could compile a folder with the following pertinent information:
o the most important legal rights and procedures;
o practical information
o the phone numbers of contacts.
On its website (Railway Section), the ETF will publish the names of the signatory unions of the Agreement as well as the names and the e-mail addresses of the contacts.
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