The Federation of Law Enforcement Officers is initiating negotiations for a new collective agreement

This was announced this week in a statement issued by the LTPF, in which the federation stated that it had sent an invitation to the Government, the Ministry of Justice and the Lithuanian Prison Service.

LTPF, together with the trade unions of pre-trial investigation institutions and Vilnius county pre-trial investigation institutions, which it unites, invites you to start negotiations on a new collective agreement, taking into account the fact that the updated statute of the Internal Service came into force this year, and the changes to the laws relevant to officials.

Trade Union Federation: The contract can be improved significantly

As Loreta Soščekienė, chairwoman of the LTPF, told BNS, the federation has not yet submitted a draft of a collective agreement, it is only asking for authorization to negotiate with the Prison Service, because “as long as they do not have the authority, we cannot submit any projects”.

“The contract was signed quite a long time ago and it can be significantly improved, the conditions of the employees regarding holidays, education and many other things can be agreed upon. (…) In the new contract, we could also discuss the wage system, because now every statutory body has created and approved a wage system – according to the current laws, that wage system should appear in the collective agreement of the branch, if there is a contract”, said L. Soščekienė.

According to her, this way, employee representatives could better supervise the implementation of the wage system, which is “one of the priorities”.

“I hope that there will be no obstacles to constructive negotiations, which is what we most expect from both the Ministry of Justice and the Prison Service.” (…) We just want the contract to be good for both sides. This means we will have to work seriously,” said L. Soščekienė.

The current collective agreement of the branch of the penal system took effect on June 18, 2020, it was valid for two years and was extended for another two years in 2022. The contract expires on June 18 of this year.

According to L. Soščekienė, the federation would like to negotiate new conditions by the summer.

Prison service: agreement is needed for institutional, legal changes

The Lithuanian Prison Service confirmed to BNS this week that it had received the LTPF’s appeal and indicated that the negotiation process will begin when the service is granted powers.

As the Prison Service Commentary points out, many changes have taken place in the collective bargaining system of the Penitentiary Branch.

“The Department of Prisons and its subordinate institutions became one legal unit, the Lithuanian Probation Service became a separate legal unit subordinate to the Ministry of Justice, many amendments to the Statute of the Internal Service and the Law on the Civil Service came into force in 2024, which require a contract amendment,” said the Prison Service.

The Ministry will give the authority to negotiate

Paulius Žeimys, adviser to the Minister of Justice, confirmed to BNS that the ministry had received an appeal from LTPF regarding collective negotiations. According to him, the ministry agrees with the request to conclude a new collective agreement of the branch of the penal system.

“Therefore, the Ministry of Justice is already preparing and will soon initiate changes to the necessary Government resolution. In accordance with them, the Lithuanian Prison Service and the Lithuanian Probation Service will be given the authority to negotiate with trade union organizations,” P. Žeimys said in a comment submitted to BNS.

He added that for now the ministry “tends not to evaluate” the negotiating positions.

“It is expected that the negotiations will be completed by June 18 of this year, when the current collective agreement of the penal system branch with trade union organizations will expire,” said the minister’s adviser.

Founded in 1999, LTPF claims to be the largest union of trade unions representing officials and employees, the number of members of the federation’s organizations exceeds 5 thousand.

Members of the federation include police, border, fire protection, law enforcement, customs, public security, management protection, probation, migration, internal affairs system medical services trade unions.