Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 256, June 1988

1. 196. The complaint of the Independent Union of Employees of the Central Bank of Venezuela, alleging violations of freedom of association by the Government of Venezuela, was presented in a letter dated 1 June l987. The Government replied to it in communications dated 26 October l987 and 25 February 1988.
2. 197. Venezuela has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, l948 (No. 87) and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, l949 (No. 98).

A. The complainant's allegations

1. 198. The complainant explains that on 20 November l985 the employees of the Central Bank of Venezuela held a general meeting so as to set up a trade union called "the Independent Union of Employees of the Central Bank of Venezuela"; they drafted rules and elected officers in accordance with current Venezuelan legislation. On 3 December l985 they applied to the Ministry of Labour for the granting of legal personality to their union, adding that under section l85 of the Labour Code the Ministry had two months in which to effect the registration or address to the applicants such observations as might be deemed necessary.
2. 199. However, the complainant states, in the present case six months passed without receipt of any reply - which, it says, is a breach of Articles 7 and 8 of Convention No. 87 according to which the acquisition of legal personality by workers' organisations shall not be made subject to requirements of such a nature as to inhibit the application of the Convention and that the law of the land shall not impair, nor be so applied as to impair, the guarantees provided for in the Convention.
3. 200. The complainant denounces the overly obliging attitude of the Ministry of Labour towards the Bank's management which is preventing registration of the union and making use of delaying manoeuvres such as bringing the matter before the public prosecutor's office, whereas that office is not competent to decide such questions.
4. 201. The complainant demands the immediate registration of the union in conformity with national legislation and the Venezuelan Constitution, which expressly protect the right to associate and respect for Conventions Nos. 87 and 98, ratified by Venezuela.
5. 202. Furthermore, the complainant appends to its complaint a letter dated l9 May l986, which it sent at that time to the employees of all the banks in the country to appeal for the solidarity of other bank employees in the defence of the right of the Central Bank's employees to organise and to bargain collectively. In this appeal, the complainant enumerates the occupational demands of the recently established union, namely: doubling of the grant made when an employee retires on pension; maintenance of the requirement of only one year's seniority for the right to receive housing benefits; abolition of the discrimination existing between salaried employees and wage earners as regards medical benefits; reduction of the unjust workload imposed on the security watchmen, who have to perform police functions outside the immediate area of the Central Bank; and a more proper and equitable distribution of the duties of all the Bank's employees, based on their responsibilities, their seniority, their efforts and the honesty with which they carry out their work.

B. The Government's reply

1. 203. In its first reply dated 26 October l987, the Government does not deny that the Minister of Labour has refrained from granting legal personality to the union, but explains that employees of the Central Bank are civil servants and it is not for the Ministry of Labour, but for the Central Personnel Office, to register a union of civil servants, in accordance with the regulations covering public servants' unions.
2. 204. Going into more detail, the Government states that on 3 June l986 the Ministry of Labour sent back its documents to the union which had proposed to establish itself, considering that in accordance with the Labour Code such a union could not be inscribed in the Register of Trade Unions, since it was composed of civil servants who are subject to the Administrative Careers Act.
3. 205. The Government also explains that previously the Ministry of Labour had been competent to register unions of civil servants and that on l3 November l973 it had indeed inscribed in the Register of Trade Unions the Union of Public Officials of the Central Bank of Venezuela; however, the registration of civil servants' unions was now within the competence of the Central Personnel Office.
4. 206. The Government adds that in any case the complainant has the right to appeal to the courts and that it did indeed make an application to the Administrative Disputes Authority on l4 October l986; this application was held to be receivable by the said Authority on 5 May l987. According to the Government, the relevant proceedings are continuing.
5. 207. Furthermore, the Government states that trade unions existing within the Central Bank of Venezuela, particularly the Union of Public Officials of the Central Bank (registered in l973), act freely. It adds that the founding members of the Independent Union of Employees of the Central Bank are also members of the Executive Committee of the Union of Public Officials of the Central Bank, and that the union which it is proposed to set up is intended to recruit as members the same type of personnel as already belongs to the Union of Public Officials.
6. 208. In a later reply dated 25 February 1988, the Government adds that in 1974, the Attorney-General had issued a resolution stating that employees of the Central Bank of Venezuela were civil servants as they were employed in the public service. It specifies that Decree No. 1378 of 15 January 1982, issued under the Administrative Careers Act, establishes the competence of the Central Personnel Office to register public servants' unions; furthermore, under section 219 of this Decree, it is provided that the Ministry of Labour must refer any documents concerning the registration of these unions to the Office in question. The Government also points out that the appeal to quash the ministerial resolution on this case (resolution of 3 June 1986, in which the Ministry of Labour stated it was not competent to deal with the matter and returned the documents to the trade union attempting to set itself up) is pending.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 209. In the opinion of the Committee, the question whether one or another authority is entitled to grant legal personality to a trade union should not infringe the right of workers without distinction whatsoever, including civil servants, to form organisations of their own choosing without previous authorisation, as provided in Article 2 of Convention No. 87. Nor should the existence of a trade union of public servants in the Central Bank prevent the employees of that establishment from setting up another union for the defence of their interests if they so desire.
2. 210. A quite different problem arises when considering which would be the most representative workers' organisation thus entitled to negotiate with the management over the conditions of work of the salaried and wage-earning employees of the Central Bank of Venezuela. In this connection, the Committee recalls that the decision as to which union is the most representative must always be made according to objective, precise and predetermined criteria, so as to preclude any possibility of partiality or abuse.
3. 211. Moreover, the existence of a recognised trade union in the Central Bank of Venezuela should not have the result of depriving another union - perhaps not recognised as being the most representative - of the essential means of defending the occupational interests of its members and of the right to organise its administration and activities and to formulate its programme, as laid down in Convention No. 87.
4. 212. In the present case, the Committee regrets the long time taken by the authorities in examining the matter, since the request for legal personality was made by the complainant, the Independent Union of Employees of the Central Bank of Venezuela, to the authorities in December l985, more than two years ago. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to accelerate the consideration of the question of the granting of legal personality to the union in question.