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

The Committee notes the Government’s report.

Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee recalls that the questions raised in its previous observation concerned the need to include in the national legislation specific provisions: (a) to protect all workers, and not only trade union delegates as set out in the Labour Code, against anti-union discrimination at the time of recruitment and during employment; (b) to protect employers’ and workers’ organizations against acts of interference by each other (or their agents); and (c) to explicitly provide for appeal procedures and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions against acts of anti-union discrimination and interference.

The Committee had noted that section 3 of the new draft Labour Code provides that no employer may take into consideration the membership of a trade union and trade union activities of workers in reaching decisions with regard, among other matters, to recruitment, conduct and the allocation of work, termination of the employment contract, etc. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that the new draft Labour Code does contain appeal procedures and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions. It therefore recalls that general legal provisions, such as section 3 of the draft Labour Code prohibiting acts of anti-union discrimination against workers, are inadequate in the absence of rapid and effective procedures, including the application of sufficiently dissuasive sanctions.

Article 2. The Committee notes that the new draft Labour Code does not contain provisions granting protection against acts of interference in the internal affairs of workers’ and employers’ organizations. The Committee requests the Government to include in the draft Labour Code specific provisions prohibiting these acts combined with effective and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions.

The Committee hopes that the provisions of the future Labour Code will be in full conformity with Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in this respect in its next report and to provide a copy of the final text of the new Labour Code.