Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It recalls that its previous observations referred to the following points:

-  the requirement of too high a number of workers (300) to establish a branch trade union (section 292 of the Labour Code);

-  the imposition of excessive requirements to be able to hold office in the executive body of a trade union (sections 298(a) and 293(d) of the Labour Code);

-  the submission of collective disputes to compulsory arbitration (sections 284 to 320 of the Code of Labour Procedure);

-  the restriction on workers, even if they have more than one half-time employment contract, from being able to join more than one union, either at the enterprise, industry, occupation or trade, or institutional level (section 293(c) of the Labour Code);

-  the requirement that trade unions must comply with all requests for consultations or reports from the labour authorities (sections 290(f) and 304(c) of the Labour Code);

-  the requirement that, for a strike to be called, its sole purpose must be the direct and exclusive protection of the workers’ occupational interests (sections 358 and 376(a) of the Labour Code), and the obligation to ensure a minimum service in the event of a strike in public services which are essential to the community, without consulting the workers’ and employers’ organizations concerned (section 362 of the Labour Code).

The Committee recalls that, during the mission which took place in Paraguay in October 2000, a draft Bill was prepared to amend or repeal the legislative provisions criticized by the Committee. In practical terms, the provisions of the draft Bill:

(1)  reduce from 300 to 50 the minimum number of workers to establish a branch trade union (section 292 of the Labour Code);

(2)  allow workers engaged in more than one occupation in various enterprises or sectors to join the trade unions corresponding to each of the categories of work that they perform and, at the same time, if they so wish, to join an enterprise union and a sectoral union (section 293(c) of the Labour Code);

(3)  make it necessary, to be a member of the executive body of a trade union, to be an active member of the union, unless the statutes allow other categories of members, and provide that the executive offices of the trade union are to be removed by a decision of the general assembly in accordance with the statutes of the trade union (sections 293(d) and 298(a) of the Labour Code);

(4)  oblige trade unions to comply with all requests for consultations or reports addressed to them by the competent labour authorities only in respect of their annual financial statements, as well as with requests for reports by the labour authorities in the event of denunciations by members concerning violations of the law or of the trade union’s statutes - the representatives of the Single Confederation of Workers (CUT), the Paraguayan Central of Workers (CPT), the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), and the Trade Union Confederation of State Workers of Paraguay (CESITEP) expressed a preference for establishing the sole possibility of requesting reports in the event of denunciations by members (section 290(f) and section 304(c) of the Labour Code);

(5)  define a strike as the temporary collective and concerted suspension of work, at the initiative of the workers and their organizations, to defend the interests of the workers, as set out in section 283 of the Code (the examination, defence, furtherance and protection of occupational interests, as well as the social, economic, cultural and moral improvement of members) (section 358 of the Labour Code);

(6)  add at the end of section 362 of the Labour Code a provision that, in the absence of agreement, the modalities for the provision of minimum services in the event of a strike and the number of workers who are to ensure such services shall be determined by the Ministry of Labour with the participation of the workers’ and employers’ organizations from the sector, with administrative decisions which are deemed to be excessive being subject to judicial review; furthermore, where the State is a party to the dispute, minimum services shall be determined by the judicial authority;

(7)  repeal sections 284 to 320 of the Code of Labour Procedure, respecting the submission of collective disputes to compulsory arbitration (the provisions in question are not currently applied on the grounds that article 97 of the Constitution only provides for voluntary arbitration); and

(8)  prohibit trade unions from being involved in matters relating purely to party politics and electoral movements which are unrelated to furthering and defending the interests of the workers (section 305(a) of the Labour Code).

The Committee expresses the firm hope that the draft text that was prepared will be adopted in the near future. The Committee trusts that the Government will provide information in the near future on any developments in this respect.

Furthermore, the Committee is addressing a request directly to the Government in relation to the comments of the CGT, the CUT and the CESITEP, in which they raise objections to a Bill respecting the public service which, in their view, is not compatible with the guarantees set out in the Convention.