Definitive Report - Report No 79, 1965

1. 46. The complaint of the Moroccan General Federation of Labour (U.G.T.M.), Khouribga branch, is contained in a telegram dated 11 October 1963 addressed directly to the I.L.O. The complainants were informed by a letter dated 16 October 1963 of their right to furnish further information in support of their complaint but have not taken advantage of this. The complaint was communicated to the Government for its observations by a letter dated 16 October 1963, and a reply dated 30 May 1964 was received.
2. 47. Morocco has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), but has ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 48. The complainants allege that the elections of shop stewards in the mines of the Sherifian Office of Phosphates at Khouribga were held in an irregular manner. They contend that the elections were vitiated by the fact that during the campaign the representatives of the two other trade unions were given time off but those of U.G.T.M were not. The complainants allege also, in a general way, that discrimination against U.G.T.M was evident in such matters as the granting of benefits such as the utilisation of premises only to the other trade unions.
2. 49. The Government states in its observations that the Directorate of Mines and Geology, which comes under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Finance and Agriculture, has followed these elections with particular attention, and it provides the following details.
3. 50. Mr. Hajjaji Mohamed, mining engineer, nominated by the Director of Mines and Geology to be chairman of the electoral committee charged with ensuring proper election procedure, as laid down in section 16 of Ministerial Order No. 247-61 of 5 May 1961 regulating the procedure for nominating the staff regulations and personnel committees, went to Khouribga four days before the date of the elections accompanied by Mr. Mnebhi, mining engineer, nominated to assist him. After the electoral committee had been constituted three days before the date of the elections; after having checked the posting up of the electoral lists, the lists of candidates, the voting slips, the polling booths and the ballot boxes; and after the nomination of staff for each polling station in accordance with section 19 of the above-mentioned order, the chairman called together the staff of all the polling stations and, in the presence of the other members of the committee, explained to them what their duties would be on election day.
4. 51. The Government then states that the chairman of the electoral committee noticed that the representative of the Sherifian Office of Phosphates had attempted to adopt an attitude favouring the U.S.T.L trade union during the campaign. The Government affirms, however, that the presence of the chairman of the committee prevented this attempt from succeeding.
5. 52. The Government also states that, in contradiction to the complainant's allegations, the number of persons given time off by the undertaking for trade union work was the same for each of the three organisations, although the number of their members was disproportionate, the affiliated members of U.G.T.M accounting for only 7 per cent of the workers in the mines of Khouribga.
6. 53. The Government states that sections 28 and 29 of the above-mentioned order provide that any elector has the right of lodging a protest, in the form of a petition to the tribunal, within five days against any irregularity in the electoral proceedings. The Government asserts that no petition on this subject was made by U.G.T.M.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 54. It appears from the information provided by the Government that the elections in question took place in conditions safeguarded from irregularity by the presence of an independent and properly constituted electoral committee. It also appears that the three organisations concerned have enjoyed the same benefits during the electoral campaign, including time off for trade union work. Finally, it appears from the reply by the Government that U.G.T.M has not made use of the procedures of appeal that were open to it if it believed that the elections showed a taint of irregularity.
2. 55. Concerning this latter point, when the Committee has been called upon to examine similar situations in the past it has pointed out that while in view of the nature of its responsibilities it cannot consider itself bound by any rule that national procedures of redress must be exhausted, such as applies for instance to international claims tribunals, it must have regard, in examining the merits of a case, to the fact that a national remedy before an independent tribunal whose procedure offers appropriate guarantees has not been pursued.
3. 56. In the present case, believing that the complainants have not brought proof that the elections whose validity they contest were held in irregular circumstances and finding, moreover, that by not making use of the appeal procedures open to them they have not, in fact, attempted to obtain redress for the wrong they considered they had suffered, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to decide that this aspect of the case does not call for further examination.
4. 57. As regards the additional allegation made by the complainants concerning the benefits, such as the use of premises, denied to them although granted to other organisations, the Government makes the following observations.
5. 58. The Sherifian Office of Phosphates, it says, considers that U.G.T.M is not sufficiently representative (see paragraph 52 above) to benefit like the two other trade unions from certain advantages such as premises, telephones, etc. Despite the small membership of U.G.T.M, the Government continues, the Regional Service of Mines at Casablanca is studying, in agreement with the management of the Sherifian Office of Phosphates, the possibility of granting that union the same benefits as those already given to the two other organisations in order to improve the atmosphere in the undertaking.
6. 59. The questions raised by this allegation are also evident, on a larger scale, in the separate examination being made of a different case submitted to the Committee at its present session (Case No. 361 (Morocco)). The Committee therefore refers in this matter to the conclusions it has reached in that case and to the reasons for them.