Workers Council in a System of Organs of the State Enterprise

The reform of planning and managing system of the national economy in Poland is mostly concerned with a functioning of State enterprises. The new economic model has endowed its organizations with an economic independence, self-management and self-financing. The idea of self-management of enterprises is manifested in the shape of worker's self-management. Worker's councils are presently functioning as a basic and permanently active organ of the worker's self-management. According to sec. 2, par. 2 of the Act of 25 Sept. 1981, the worker's council is an organ and representation of the personnel's self-management. Simultaneously, by virtue of the State enterprises' Act, the workers' council obtained a status of the organ of State enterprise. Being the organ of workers' self-management, the worker's council enjoyes an attribute of independence from the State administration organs, as well as from the political and union ones. Consequently no pressure can be exerted by these organs on the worker's council in the scope of its preemption. There are direct ties between the council and the personnel of an enterprise in order to secure the independence of the first: the council is elected by the personnel in a direct, general and equal poll. The independent status of the council member is guaranteed by the interdiction of a notice or dissolution of an employment contract without a previous consent of the council. The attribute of council's independence does not imply its isolation from other organs of the enterprise management. It concerns both the workers' self-management organs and organs managing professionally i.e. the enterprise director. Relations of the council to the general assembly of the personnel are based on a definite dependence of the council from the assembly. The assembly passes, among others, a statute of the workers' self management, the basic, internal normative act stating the position and functioning rules of the workers' council. The assembly is also vested with a right to recall a council in toto or its individual members. Mutual interdependence and, to some extent, keeping each other under control are characteristic of the relations between the council and the director of an enterprise. The workers' council is vested with the right to suspend the execution of a director's decision and the director, in turn, can suspend the execution of a council's resolution. Contentions as to an application of the supervisory measures are tried under special mode of proceedings. The up-to-date practice does not allow for more exhaustive evaluation of the effectiveness of self-management organs in the State enterprises. One can venture the opinion that a rank of the self management organs will be increasing with the process of making enterprises independent.Digitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/201