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Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body
Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body
- 24. During its last examination of this case at its meeting in March 1997, the Committee once again requested the Government to: repeal Order No. 158 of 28 March 1995 to the extent it includes organizations and enterprises not providing essential services as defined by the Committee; implement fully the decision of the Constitutional Court which declared certain articles of Decree No. 336 to be unconstitutional; take the necessary measures, without delay, to ensure the reinstatement in their jobs of all workers dismissed in connection with the strikes in Minsk and Gomyel in August 1995; immediately set up an independent commission of inquiry to clarify all the facts relating to this case and to keep it informed of the conclusions reached by the Procurator of the Republic and the commission of inquiry in this regard (see 306th Report, paras. 19-25).
- 25. The Committee notes with interest that an ILO advisory mission undertaken by Ms. Karen Curtis, Senior Legal Officer of the Freedom of Association Branch, took place from 6-10 October 1997 at the request of the Government to estimate the present situation with respect to essential services and to provide the necessary assistance in this regard. The Committee notes that meetings were held in this regard with officials from the Ministry of Labour, as well as representatives from the workers' and employers' organizations. In a communication to the Office dated 15 October 1997, the Government indicated that the list of enterprises where work stoppages could endanger the life and health of the population was being discussed by all the ministries concerned. The consolidated comments on this matter are to be examined by the National Soviet on labour relations at the end of October - early November 1997. The Committee therefore expresses the firm hope that the Government will be in a position in the very near fut
- ure to take the necessary measures to amend Order No. 158 so as to ensure that strikes are only prohibited in essential services in the strict sense of the term. It requests the Government to keep it informed on the progress made in this regard.
- 26. As concerns sections 1-3 of the Presidential Decree No. 336 which suspend the activities of the Free Trade Unions of Belarus, the Committee notes with regret that, from the information given to the mission by the Free Trade Unions of Belarus, a Presidential Order No. 259 dated 29 December 1995, issued subsequent to the Constitutional Court judgement rendering these sections unconstitutional, provides:
- To provide the political and economic stability, protect rights and freedoms of citizens of the Republic of Belarus, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus as well as state bodies shall, until amendments and alterations are introduced into corresponding legislative acts of the Republic of Belarus, ensure that provisions of the following Decrees of the President of the Republic of Belarus are implemented unequivocally:
- ... - No. 336, dated August 21, 1995 on certain measures to ensure stability and order in the Republic of Belarus.
- 27. The Committee must therefore once again refer to its previous conclusions concerning Presidential Decree No. 336 (see 302nd Report, para. 221) and call upon the Government to take immediate steps to revoke those articles of the Decree which interfere with the free exercise of trade union rights, namely articles 1, 2 and 3, and to keep it informed of the progress made in this regard. The Committee also requests the Government to keep it informed on the progress made with respect to its recommendations on the remaining points.
