Definitive Report - Report No 6, 1953

A. Analysis of the Complaint

1. 938. In their letter dated 23 June 1952 the complainants refer to a communication which they addressed to the I.L.O on 3 August 1950. They allege, in particular, that in Spain workers do not have the right freely to establish organisations of their own choosing and to defend their occupational interests. Existing organisations have been imposed on the workers ; working conditions are laid down under an authoritarian system. As their position renders it impossible for Spanish workers to express their opinions freely, the complainants have recourse once again to the I.L.O with a view to measures being taken to ensure the restoration of freedom of association in Spain.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 939. As Spain is not a Member either of the United Nations or of the I.L.O, the Director-General of the International Labour Office referred this case to the Committee for its opinion before communicating the complaint to the Government concerned.
2. 940. It will be recalled that in connection with the complaint dated 3 August 1950 the Officers of the Governing Body, during the 113th Session of the Governing Body (Brussels, November 1950), expressed the view that they should not pursue the matter in view of the fact that the procedure laid down for the examination of complaints relating to the exercise of trade union rights by the Fact-Finding and Conciliation Commission is applicable only in the case of Governments which are States Members either of the United Nations or of the I.L.O.
3. 941. The same organisation, by a communication dated 14 June 1950, submitted a similar complaint to the United Nations. This complaint came before the Economic and Social Council at its 12th Session and, by a resolution dated 28 February 1951, the Council instructed the Secretary-General of the United Nations to bring the complaint to the notice of the Spanish Government and to request it to present such observations as it cared to make. At its 14th Session, the Economic and Social Council, having noted that the Government of Spain had not replied to the communication which had been forwarded to it pursuant to the aforesaid resolution, requested the Secretary-General, by a resolution dated 18 July 1952, to ask the Spanish Government once again to reply as requested by the Council. At the same time, the Economic and Social Council decided to communicate to the Spanish Government a series of other complaints which had been submitted to the Council by several trade union organisations, relating to proceedings alleged to have been taken against workers and trade union leaders following a strike which occurred in Barcelona in 1951.
4. 942. The Committee is of opinion that it is not desirable to abandon the policy followed by the Officers of the Governing Body, and approved by the Governing Body at its 115th Session (June 1951), of not taking action on a complaint concerning a State which is not a Member either of the I.L.O or of the United Nations.
5. 943. The Committee notes, moreover, that the complaint addressed to the I.L.O emanates from the same source and relates to the same facts as the complaint which came before the Economic and Social Council at its 12th Session (February-March 1951) and which the Council communicated to the Spanish Government for its observations.