Trade unions in Poland have not built the stable and long–term relations with political parties as are observed in Western democracies. By analysing the historical and symbolic background of the transformation to a democratic civil society and free market economy, political preferences of working class, trade union membership rates, and public opinion polls, we argue that, in case of Poland, the initial links between political parties and trade unions weakened over time. Polish trade unions never had a chance to become a long–term intermediary between society and political parties, making the Polish case study a double exception from the traditional models. 

A right to collective bargaining is a consequence of freedom of assembly and at the same time one of the most significant demonstrations of trade union liberty. The Constitution of the Republic of Poland does not define the concept of collective bargaining, but introduces guarantees of a right to bargain. A broad approach to collective bargaining represents the core of it and is consistent with the Polish legislator’s intentions. Thus, a concept of collective bargaining should include any and all negotiations between an employer, a group, an organization or organizations of employers and a trade union or trade unions held in order to set forth the terms and conditions of employment or to manage relations between employers or between employers and their organizations and trade unions. Resolution of collective disputes as a power of trade unions addressed by the author in this study accounts for one of the demonstrations of a right to collective bargaining.

The article presents the issue of compliance of the Polish Constitution with the Act of 11 September 2015 on the entitlement to the property of the Holiday Employee Fund (Dz.U. No. 1824). The author presents the origins of the organization, and what changes have taken place in its legal status. The Act regulating the status of assets after Holiday Employee Fund was declared unconstitutional in 1997. The legislator had to regulate this issue again, which did not happen until 2015. The author estimates the new regulation based on the constitutional principles of protection of property rights, democratic rule of law, non-retroactivity and certainty of real estate transactions.

The article aims to discuss the European standards concerning the freedom of association of armed forces personnel. Relevant norms in this regard result from human rights treaty law but also from soft-law elaborated within the Council of Europe. The authors juxtapose the existing standards with the scope of the freedom of association provided in Polish Constitution of 1997 and relevant domestic law. They ask whether the armed forces personnel need to form and join trade unions to secure their rights or perhaps the existing forms of exercising the freedom of association are satisfactory? The authors conclude that the current legal solutions in Poland meet the European and constitutional standards, and allow the Polish Armed Forces to observe neutrality regarding political matters. Nevertheless, the prohibition to form and join trade unions in Polish armed forces is of statutory rather than constitutional origin.

India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have dominated the global ship recycling market in the 21st century. A recycled ship provides steel and other metals for industrial reuse. In addition to economic gains, ship recycling affects the environment and workers’ health. The article compares the changes in the policies of the governments of India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan regarding recycling shipyard operations from 2009-2022 in the context of international and EU law standards. It also shows the impact of international organizations, shipbuilding trade unions, Shipbreaking Platform non-governmental, Maersk shipping company, and Norway on the decisions of South Asian countries to make them ratify the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. Analysis of the collected research material allows us to conclude that the governments of India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have shown varying degrees of understanding of introducing legal regulations for safe ship recycling.