Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

The Committee notes the Government’s report.

1. Article 4 of the Convention. The Committee noted previously that sections 20 and 28 of Act No. 20-A/92 on the right of collective bargaining provide that collective labour disputes in public utility enterprises may be settled by the Ministry of Labour, Public Administration and Social Security after the parties have been heard. The Committee noted that the list of public utility activities (section 1.3) is broader than the concept of essential services in the strict sense of the term (those the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population). The Committee notes that, in its present report, the Government indicates that the Strike Act and the Trade Union Act are being revised and that the National Tripartite Commission for the ILO will examine the issue of essential services in order to propose a solution to the authorities that is in conformity with the provisions of the Convention. The Committee recalls once again that arbitration imposed at the initiative of the authorities is admissible only in essential services or for the purpose of concluding a first collective agreement when the trade union so requests. The Committee expresses the firm hope that the National Tripartite Commission for the ILO will address this matter in the near future and requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend the legislation so as to bring it into conformity with the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed on this subject.

2. Article 6. The Committee observes with regret that the Government does not send the information requested in its previous comments. Therefore, the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate whether the legislation guarantees the right to collective bargaining of public employees who are not engaged in the administration of the State and, if so, to indicate the relevant provisions. It also requests the Government to specify which public services are not organized in the form of an enterprise whose employees, according to the terms of section 2 of Act No. 20-A/92, are not covered by the Act.