Interim Report - Report No 1, 1952

A. A. The complainants' allegations

• Analysis of the Complaint
  119. 119 The complaints of the American Federation of Labor and of the Venezuelan General Confederation of Labour relate to the two following series of facts which require separate examination.
       • (a) The general situation of the trade union movement in Venezuela.
       • (b) The dissolution of the petroleum workers' trade unions.
  120. 120 With regard to the general situation of the trade union movement in Venezuela, the complainants make, in particular, the following allegations:
       • (a) Immediately following the assumption of power by the Military Junta (24 November 1948) the Government suspended Constitutional guarantees and unleashed a violent campaign against the trade union movement. This campaign was characterised among other things by the closing of trade union premises, the freezing of trade union funds and the imprisonment or expulsion from the country of the best-known leaders of the workers' movement and, finally, the dissolution, by administrative action, of the Venezuelan General Confederation of Labour and of most of the federations and trade unions which were affiliated to it.
       • (b) The central offices of the Venezuelan General Confederation of Labour and those of many unions and trade union federations have been closed. The trade union organisations which escaped this procedure have been placed under the control of the police.
       • (c) The funds of the General Confederation of Labour and its most important branches have been seized by the authorities. The trade union press has been suppressed.
       • (d) The police have persecuted hundreds of workers and trade union leaders on the pretext that they were involved in subversive political activity. Many trade union leaders, among them the President of the General Confederation of Labour, the President and Vice-President of the National Association of Employees, have been imprisoned on various occasions, while others, like the Secretary-General and other members of the Executive Committee of the General Confederation of Labour, have been expelled from the country. Yet others, such as the President of the Organising Committee of the Workers' Federation for the federal district and the members of the Organising Committee of the Petroleum Workers' Federation, have first been imprisoned and then expelled from the country.
       • (e) By Decree of 25 February 1949, the Military Government ordered the dissolution of the General Confederation of Workers, the principal national federations and the Union of Graphic Arts.
       • (f) The organisations of workers which were not dissolved were obliged, by means of a Ministerial Order, to renew their executive bodies within a prescribed time limit. Former officials of these unions were declared ineligible for election.
  121. 121 With regard to the dissolution of the petroleum workers' unions, the complaint makes, in particular, the following allegations:
       • (a) Following the strike which broke out in the oilfields on the expiry of the collective agreements, the Military Government, by administrative action, dissolved the 46 petroleum workers' unions in Venezuela.
       • (b) The dissolution was accompanied by measures of repression against the workers, and, in particular, against the trade union leaders. These measures were characterised, among other things, by the imprisonment of more than 3,000 workers, the cutting off of gas, electricity and water supplies of the families of workers on strike, house-to-house searches and destruction of the food supplies of workers' families.
       • (c) The Decree dissolving the 46 petroleum workers' organisations is contrary to the express provisions of the Labour Code, which provides that the Ministry of Labour or the Government must grant the trade unions concerned a period of ten days in which to appeal to the Federal Court of Appeals.
  122. Analysis of the Reply
  122. 122 After stating that the Venezuelan General Confederation of Labour -" a non-existent organisation "-is not qualified to present a complaint alleging infringement of freedom of association, the Government presents the following observations with regard to the facts alleged by the American Federation of Labor. As in the case of the complaint, these observations may be analysed under the two following heads:
       • (a) The general situation of the trade union movement in Venezuela.
       • (b) The dissolution of the petroleum workers' trade unions.
  123. 123 The dissolution of the Venezuelan General Confederation of Labour was ordered by Decree No. 56 of 25 February 1949, following an illegal political strike. In connection with this dissolution, the Government gives the following details:
       • (a) It was not the intention of the Government to dissolve the General Confederation of Labour and it took this measure only several months after it was established and when it was apparent that the General Confederation of Labour had been turned into an instrument for political action, the activities of which were dangerous to social stability and public order.
       • (b) While knowing that the leaders of the General Confederation of Labour were active members of the political party in power until November 1948, the Government nevertheless took no measures against the General Confederation of Labour, merely exercising surveillance over its leaders in order to avoid harm to the trade union organisation as a result of their political activities.
       • (c) The political activities of these leaders culminated in the sending of an ultimatum to the Government on 23 February 1949, requiring the Government in threatening terms to take certain measures within a period of 48 hours under a threat of resort to direct action. In the face of such a challenge accompanied by stoppage of work, the Government was obliged, much against its will, to dissolve the General Confederation of Labour and to cancel the registration of the Union of Graphic Arts. The illegal character of the action of the General Confederation of Labour is easily understood in the light of the provisions of the Labour Code (Title VIII) and the provisions of the regulations issued under the Code (Title 31), referring to collective labour agreements and the declaration of strikes.
       • (d) The fact that the dissolution applied only to the General Confederation of Labour and not to the occupational unions (with the sole exception of the Union of Graphic Arts), proves that the measure was not taken with the object of suppressing the trade union movement. The Union of Graphic Arts, moreover, was subsequently allowed to be re-registered in spite of the fact that its members were the same workers who had taken part in the illegal strike.
  124. 124 With regard to the freezing of trade union funds, the Government states that this measure was decreed in the first months of its authority and was done with the object of preventing the use of these funds for purposes which were foreign to trade union activity. This measure, taken on the basis of the power given by the Labour Code to the Government, ceased to be applied and the unions were again permitted to dispose freely of the funds in question. With regard to the funds belonging to the dissolved organisations, these were placed on deposit and the question of their final disposition was under consideration.
  125. 125 As regards the persecutions alleged by the complainants, the Government states that certain security measures had to be taken against some trade union leaders, not in their capacity as trade union leaders but because of their political activities which were contrary to public order.
  126. 126 With regard to the dissolution of the 46 petroleum workers' unions, the Government makes the following observations:
       • (a) Employment relations between employers and workers in the petroleum industry were regulated by collective agreements concluded at the beginning of 1948 between the former Federation of Trade Unions of the Venezuelan Petroleum Workers and each of the undertakings engaged in that industry. These agreements were concluded for a period of three years and remained in force in accordance with the Labour Code which the Military Government recognised by Decree No. 56 mentioned above.
       • (b) The strike called by the Petroleum Workers' Unions dissolved under the Decree complained against did not take place as alleged by the complainants at the expiry of the term of the collective agreements. On the contrary, it was called contrary to formal provisions contained in the collective agreements in force (provisions cited in the Government reply and reproduced in the annexation hereto) ; the strike was therefore illegal and its authors were liable to the sanctions prescribed by law.
       • (c) The administrative sanctions taken by the Government were based on the Labour Code in force. The Government adds that similar measures are taken by other Governments and do not, in its view, constitute an infringement of freedom of association.
       • (d) The respect paid by the Government to the free development of a trade union movement of a strictly professional character and not subject to the directives of political groups is demonstrated by the fact that since 24 November 1948 88 unions have been recognised and registered, including 42 unions of workers in the petroleum industry.
       • (e) Discussions are at present being held, especially in the petroleum industry, with a view to the renewal of the collective agreements which are due to expire very shortly.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 127. With regard to the allegations relating to the general situation of the trade union movement in Venezuela, the Governing Body has at its disposal the report of the I.L.O. Mission to Venezuela and the observations of the Government of Venezuela on the same report. The data necessary for appreciating the position are therefore available.
2. 128. The dissolution of the petroleum workers' unions, to which the second part of the complaint relates, took place after the events dealt with in the above documents and have therefore not been the subject of any similar examination. The versions given by the Government and by the complainants differ considerably with regard to the circumstances under which the events took place which gave rise to the dissolution of the petroleum workers' unions, but they are in agreement as to the dissolution having actually taken place. It is quite clear from the text of the dissolution Decree attached to the complaint that the measure was taken by the administrative authorities without the case first having been submitted to the competent courts.