ABSTRACT
One of the great deficiencies of the legal framework as it applies to labor relations is the sluggish, convoluted nature of the existing dispute resolution process. The absence of efficient dispute resolution procedures, particularly in the public sector, may lead unions to undertake strike action where a channel for discussion might have led to the matter’s resolution. The most contentious and significant subjects of labor dispute in Guatemala are “collective conflicts of economic-social character” -- which involve disputes over wages, hours, conditions, negotiation or revision of a collective pact, or any other matter out of which an organized work stoppage may arise. Immediately following the submission of a list of demands, the labor judge must convene a conciliation tribunal, thereby inaugurating the second, or conciliation stage, of the dispute resolution process. The members of the tribunal are selected from lists of regional union and employer representatives prepared annually under the auspices of the Supreme Court of Justice.
