Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It must therefore repeat its previous observation which read as follows:

In its previous comments concerning section 4 of the Better Security Act of 1920 (Chapter 160) under which any person who wilfully breaks a contract of service or employment, knowing that he or she may thus endanger real or personal property, is liable to imprisonment or a fine, the Committee had noted the Government's statement to the effect that this provision had not been invoked for many years and that it was unlikely that its sanctions would be applied, since it was outdated. The Committee once again recalls that if this provision is applicable in the event of a strike, it should be amended in order to limit the scope of restrictions which are enforceable with penalties to essential services in the strict sense of the term, namely those whose interruption would endanger the life, personal safety or health of whole or part of the population and that sanctions should not be disproportionate to the seriousness of violations (see General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, 1994, paragraph 178). In its latest report, the Government indicated that the Better Security Act had not yet been amended. As the Government had indicated its intention to amend the Act since 1984, the Committee asks the Government to indicate, in its next report, the measures taken or envisaged to bring the provision in question into conformity with the principles of freedom of association.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the very near future.