EIT: Yhdistymisvapautta ei loukattu kun työntekijän palkka pidätettiin tämän kieltäydyttyä eräistä ammattiyhdistyksensä osoittamista työtehtävistä

Hellgren v. Finland (no. 52977/19)

Art 11 • Freedom of association • Withholding of the applicant’s wages by her employer for two days for partial performance of work tasks in the context of a “selective strike” following a collective trade union decision • Trade union freedom, in general, secured in the present case • Domestic authorities, in seeking to strike a fair balance between the competing rights at stake, remained within their wide margin of appreciation

The applicant, Anu Marjaana Hellgren, is a Finnish national who was born in 1976 and lives in Tuulos (Finland). She was employed as a postal worker for the Finnish postal service – which is operated by a State-owned company governed by private law named Posti Oy.

The case concerns the applicant’s wages being withheld for two days due to her refusal – in keeping with her trade union’s stance – to give induction training to externally hired employees taken on to counteract impending industrial action. Although she had been down on the shift roster for ordinary mail delivery work on those days, her employer sent her home and withheld her wages. Relying on Articles 11 (freedom of assembly and association) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention, the applicant complains that the reasons behind her being sent home and having her wages withheld restricted her rights to trade union membership and industrial action.

No violation of Article 11

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