Definitive Report - Report No 305, November 1996

1. 434. The complaint of the Trade Union Confederation of Chad (CST) against the Government of Chad is contained in a communication dated 30 September 1995. The CST sent additional information in a communication dated 26 November 1995. As the Government did not reply, the Committee had to postpone its examination of this case on two occasions. At its June 1996 meeting (see 304th Report, para. 10), the Committee made an urgent appeal to the Government, stating that, in accordance with the procedural rule set out in paragraph 17 of its 127th Report, approved by the Governing Body, it may present a report on the substance of these cases, even if the observations or information requested from the Government have not been received in due time. The Government has not sent any observations to date.
2. 435. Chad has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. Allegations of the complainant organization

1. 436. In its communication of 30 September 1995, the Trade Union Confederation of Chad (CST) states that the Government discriminates against it and excludes it by preventing it from participating in collective bargaining and sitting on national bodies.
2. 437. Specifically, the CST makes the following allegations:
   • - the Ministry of the Public Service and Labour never sent the CST copies of information and reports transmitted to the Director-General of the ILO on the application of ratified Conventions. This attitude consists in preventing the CST from monitoring the action taken by the Government to implement ratified Conventions;
   • - the CST has never been consulted by the Ministry of the Public Service and Labour as it should be in order to appoint representatives to sit on the High Committee for Labour and Social Welfare. In this respect, the Ministry of the Public Service and Labour, in a letter dated 19 January 1995, ref. No. 017/MFPT/DG/DT/94, in reply to a letter of protest from the CST, stated that the latter is not representative and that "there are no criteria enabling it to determine the CST's representativity";
   • - the CST has also been excluded from the labour and social welfare courts and has never been consulted by the Ministry of the Public Service and Labour to appoint representatives to sit as assessors in court, as prescribed by law;
   • - the Ministry of the Public Service and Labour merely renewed the term of office of the members of the board of directors of the national social insurance fund, with the aim of preventing the CST from sitting on the board as a member;
   • - the Ministry of the Public Service and Labour debarred the CST from participating in the meeting of the joint committee held on 23 February 1995 to negotiate new wage scales;
   • - in a letter dated 16 January 1995, ref. No. 005/PCST/95, the CST brought the case of Chadian workers employed by diplomatic missions, international non-governmental organizations and organizations of the United Nations system accredited in the Republic of Chad. These employers prohibit their local employees from joining a trade union of their choice, and from participating in any trade union meetings or activities, even outside working hours, on pain of being dismissed. The CST requested the Ministry to examine the matter, which it views as an infringement of freedom of association and the right to organize. The Ministry has not replied to this request;
   • - as the CST is a legal and recognized workers' organization, the fact that it is excluded and barred from participation in collective bargaining and sitting on economic and social decision-making bodies constitutes a flagrant violation of trade union rights.
3. 438. In its communication of 26 November 1995, the CST states that after the complaint had been presented, the Labour Directorate had transmitted to it, in a letter dated 6 November 1995, ref. No. 128, copies of the reports on Conventions ratified by Chad for the period 31 July 1994 to 30 June 1995, which the CST had requested in a letter dated 7 September 1994, ref. No. 080/PCST/94.
4. 439. On 23 November 1995, the Labour Directorate invited the CST to participate in a meeting on 24 November to hear a statement by the Ministry of the Public Service and Labour concerning the situation with regard to the census of public servants imposed on the Government by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and to give workers' organizations an opportunity to state their views. The CST attended the meeting and expressed its point of view.
5. 440. In addition, in a letter dated 20 October 1995, ref. No. 143, the General Directorate of the Ministry of the Public Service and Labour requested the CST to appoint three of its representatives to participate in a seminar on the draft new labour code, organized by the Ministry in cooperation with the International Labour Office, which was planned for November 1995 but had to be postponed. No new date has been set. If the seminar were to take place, the CST would propose substantive amendments to sections which are not in conformity with the international ILO Conventions ratified by Chad. The CST will take a stand against tendentious provisions aimed at giving the Government the right to control the activities of Chadian workers' organizations.

B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 441. The Committee regrets that, despite the time which has elapsed since the complaint was presented, the Government has not replied to any of the allegations of the complainant organization, although it was invited on several occasions, including by means of an urgent appeal, to present its comments and observations on this case.
2. 442. In these circumstances, in accordance with the applicable procedural rule (see para. 17 of its 127th Report, approved by the Governing Body at its 184th Session), the Committee finds itself obliged to present a report on the substance of the case without being able to take into account the information it had hoped to receive from the Government.
3. 443. The Committee reminds the Government that the purpose of the whole procedure instituted by the International Labour Organization to examine alleged violations of freedom of association is to promote respect for this freedom in law and in fact. The Committee is convinced that, if it protects governments against unreasonable accusations, governments on their side must recognize the importance for the protection of their own good name of formulating for objective examination detailed factual replies to such allegations made against them. (See the Committee's First Report, para. 31.) The Committee notes in this connection that, in another case examined at this meeting, the Government has replied to the allegations put forward. The Committee therefore encourages it to see that replies are provided to all of the complaints made against it.
4. 444. The Committee notes that the complaint of the CST concerns discriminatory treatment of this organization with respect to other trade union confederations, in particular in the procedures concerning international labour standards, representation on national committees or meetings and in relations with the Ministry of the Public Service and Labour. The reply given to the CST by the Government appears to indicate that the latter denies the representative nature of the CST.
5. 445. The Committee notes that the situation has improved, according to the information supplied by the complainant organization itself. The Committee notes that in November 1995 the Government sent copies of the reports on ratified Conventions for the period from 31 July 1994 to 30 June 1995, in reply to the CST's request in September 1994. It also notes that the Government has invited the complainant organization to participate in a seminar on the draft labour code. It notes further that the Government has invited the CST to participate in a meeting concerning the situation of public servants and that the CST was able to express its views on that occasion.
6. 446. However, the Committee observes that the problem remains with regard to participation in other bodies and meetings: appointment of representatives of trade union organizations on the High Committee for Labour and Social Security, appointment of representatives as members of the board of directors of the national social insurance fund, appointment of assessors in labour and social insurance courts, and participation in the joint commission set up to negotiate wage scales.
7. 447. In this respect, the Committee recalls that the fact that a trade union organization is debarred from membership of joint committees does not necessarily imply infringement of the trade union rights of that organization. But for there to be no infringement, two conditions must be met: first, that the reason for which a union is debarred from participation in a joint committee must lie in its non-representative character, determined by objective criteria; second, that in spite of such non-participation, the other rights which it enjoys and the activities it can undertake in other fields must enable it effectively to further and defend the interests of its members within the meaning of Article 10 of Convention No. 87. (See Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, 4th edition, 1996, para. 946.)
8. 448. The Committee notes that the Government has recently taken steps to inform the CST and invite it to participate in a seminar and a meeting. If any doubt persists concerning the representativity of the CST, the Government should undertake an impartial and objective determination of the degree of representativity, in particular with respect to other existing trade union confederations and accordingly, it should take the appropriate measures in the event that the CST is the most representative union.
9. 449. As regards the Ministry of Labour's refusal to respond to the demands concerning infringements of trade union rights of certain categories of workers to which the CST drew its attention, the Committee notes that the Government has not replied to the complainant organization. The Committee recalls that the Government should respond without undue delay to the demands and claims presented by trade union organizations, especially concerning a problem as fundamental as the denial of the right to organize, which is recognized for all workers, without distinction whatsoever, by Article 2 of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), ratified by Chad.