Allegations: The complainant organization alleges the harassment of its
officials, in particular the transfer of trade union officials and the arrest and conviction
of its President, Vice-President and General Secretary as a punishment for strike action in
the public service
- 535. The complaint is contained in a communication dated 16 November 2012
from the Union of Trade Unions of Chad (UST). The complainant organization provided
additional information in a communication of 29 December 2012.
- 536. The Government sent its observations in a communication dated 18
March 2013.
- 537. Chad has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the
Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), the Right to Organise and Collective
Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), and the Workers’ Representatives Convention, 1971
(No. 135).
A. The complainant’s allegations
A. The complainant’s allegations- 538. In a communication dated 16 November 2012, the UST reports that, in
2011, the Government decided to increase the guaranteed inter-occupational minimum wage
from 25,000 to 60,000 CFA francs (€38 to €90). On the insistence of the UST, the
Government agreed to apply this new minimum wage to both the private and the public
sectors. By ministerial orders, joint committees were set up to review the pay scales of
both sectors. According to the complainant organization, while the application of a new
pay scale did not pose any particular problem in the private sector, other than a
short-lived strike, its implementation in the public sector encountered several
difficulties.
- 539. The complainant organization states that the revised public sector
pay scale included the following three elements: step increments, category indices and
an index point value to be used as the basis for calculating gross pay. The pay scale
developed by the mixed joint committee was then submitted to the Public Service Advisory
Committee, which endorsed it. However, prior to its approval by decree, the Government
requested that it be applied over a three-year period on the grounds that the State did
not have the resources to cover the wage bill that its immediate and full application
would incur. According to the UST, in order not to appear totally uncompromising in the
context of a strike that was already being carried out to demand the application of the
pay scale, it agreed to make a concession and accepted the Government’s proposal. A
memorandum of understanding was concluded to that effect.
- 540. The complainant organization states that the application of the pay
scale proved to be unfavourable to workers. The new indices were not used in the
processing of employees’ salaries, which led to a stagnation of wage levels, instead of
an increase. A significant number of employees have actually seen a reduction in their
wages, as compared to the amount they received before the pay scale review. When
questioned, the Government explained that the unfavourable situation had arisen as a
result of a simple error in the setting of the parameters used for calculating wages.
However, this error was not corrected for many months: although the Government was made
aware of the situation in February 2012, it had still not taken corrective measures in
May.
- 541. In the light of this situation, the UST issued a one-month strike
notice, for the period from 13 May to 13 June 2012. The organization called for the
application of the index point value that had been agreed upon in the memorandum of
understanding signed with the Government, the regularization of the wages that had
decreased and the adoption of a revised agreement for contractual employees in the
public service. The complainant organization states that, upon its expiry, the notice
period was extended by one month, that is from 13 June to 13 July 2012. These two months
passed without any contact being established with the Government.
- 542. The strike began on 17 July 2012, four days after the expiry of the
notice period. It lasted for two months, during which time the semblance of a
negotiation was initiated by the Government, tainted by anti-union acts and threats. In
the light of the Government’s refusal to respond to the demands on the grounds that the
State did not have the necessary resources, the UST, at a general meeting held on 1
September 2012, approved a petition which denounces the poor governance in the
management of the country’s financial resources. The organization thereby criticized the
hoarding of the country’s wealth by the Head of State, his family and the people close
to him. The Government seized this opportunity to claim that the UST had set aside its
social aspirations to venture into political territory. According to the authorities,
the union was not in a position to make such claims against the Head of State and the
people close to him.
- 543. According to the complainant organization, the situation became
explosive. It is in this context that the General Secretary of the UST, Mr François
Djondang, was harassed by the authorities for three days. Religious leaders, namely the
Archbishop of N’Djamena, the General Secretary of the Alliance of Evangelical Churches
and Missions of Chad and the President of the Higher Council for Islamic Affairs
intervened, offering to mediate in order to help calm the situation down. So as not to
engage in discussions under the pressure of a strike, the UST agreed to suspend its
strike for one month, from 17 September to 17 October 2012.
- 544. However, on 10 September 2012, the three highest-ranking officials
of the UST, namely Mr Michel Barka, its President, Mr Younous Mahadjir, its
Vice-President, and Mr François Djondang, its General Secretary, narrowly escaped a
kidnapping attempt. This incident was reported to the police at the request of the
Attorney-General of the Republic, as a result of pressure from the victims’ lawyers.
However, the complainant organization states that, when they went to the prosecution
services accompanied by dozens of activists, after the hearing, the Attorney-General
charged them for defamation and incitement to racial hatred.
- 545. Therefore, one day after the suspension of the strike, on 18
September 2012, the General Secretary, the President and the Vice-President of the UST
were each given a suspended sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment and fined 1 million CFA
francs (equivalent to €1,550) for defamation and incitement to racial hatred, following
a sham trial that did not even last half an hour.
- 546. Furthermore, the UST alleges that, during the sentencing, a union
activist, Mr Gustave MBaïlou Betar, smiled at the severity of the sentence and was
convicted from the bench for contempt of court. He was sentenced to three months in
prison and fined 300,000 CFA francs. He served his prison sentence under conditions that
led to his death on 9 December 2012 at the General Hospital of National Reference.
- 547. The complainant organization also alleges reprisals by the
authorities against union officials who led the strike in the health sector, including
the arbitrary administrative transfers of several UST officials (Mr Younouss Mahadjir,
Mr François Djondang, Mr Montanan N’Dinaromtan, Ms Rachel N’Doukolngone Naty, Ms Djerane
Laoumaye and Mr Richard Abdoulaye) in several of the country’s towns.
- 548. The complainant organization states that, despite these sanctions
and notwithstanding the insistence of its members to resume the strike in response to
the actions of the authorities, it demonstrated its good faith by respecting the
suspension period up until its expiry, from 19 December 2012 to 31 March 2013.
Nevertheless, the Government rejected the offer of religious mediation and, as a result,
throughout the suspension of the strike by the UST, no contact was established between
the parties. This attitude of contempt and irresponsibility on the part of the
Government led the workers to resume the strike.
- 549. The UST has set certain prerequisites for the resumption of dialogue
with the Government and the lifting of the strike: (1) the reversal of the conviction of
the three highest-ranking officials of the trade union confederation; (2) the
cancellation of the arbitrary sanctions against union officials in the health sector for
taking strike action; and (3) the adoption and approval of standardized agreements for
contractual and decision-making employees in the public service.
- 550. The complainant organization reports that the Government, for lack
of a better argument, referred to Act No. 008/PR/2007 regulating the exercise of the
right to strike in public services to threaten to declare the strikes illegal, even
though the act recognizes the legitimacy of the workers’ action. The UST recalls that
the act, which the Government wants to use in order to restrict union activity, was
subject to the criticism of the Committee on Freedom of Association in a previous case
(Case No. 2581), but it has not yet been amended as requested.
- 551. Noting that the Government’s blatantly anti-union attitude is in
violation of the Conventions ratified by Chad, the complainant organization urges it to
end its acts of harassment against trade unionists and its obstruction of trade union
activities. It hopes that the Committee on Freedom of Association will issue some
recommendations in this regard.
B. The Government’s reply
B. The Government’s reply- 552. In a communication dated 18 March 2013, the Government states its
commitment to collective bargaining and social dialogue, an essential tool to meet
social challenges. It is in this spirit that the Government wished to be part of the
ILO’s project to support the implementation of the Declaration (PAMODEC), which it sees
as an opportunity to strengthen the capacity of the administration and the social
partners in this regard.
- 553. The Government states that it decided to increase the guaranteed
inter-occupational minimum wage from 25,480 to 60,000 CFA francs in both the public and
the private sectors, without having been placed under any pressure to do so. It
therefore established, by order of the Minister of Public Service and Labour, two
committees (one joint and the other mixed and joint), to review the pay scales of the
private and public sectors. The role of the mixed joint committee is to make proposals
to the Government and the social partners. It is up to them to accept or not the
proposals. It is in this context that the memorandum of understanding referred to by the
complainant organization was signed. In addition, the Government wishes to clarify that
the Public Service Advisory Committee, which issues an opinion only on matters that are
referred to it, adopted the pay scale but was unable to reach a consensus on the issue
of the increase of the index point value proposed by the mixed joint committee.
Therefore, the Government has not taken any action to endorse the new index point value
proposed by the mixed joint committee and requested by the organizations representing
staff, which form part of the Public Service Advisory Committee. The three components of
the pay scale review mentioned by the complainant organization remain valid, but the
index point value should be the one that is currently in force (115), as established by
the memorandum of understanding between the Government and the trade union organizations
of 20 June 2007 and approved by Act No. 013/PR/2007 of 3 October 2007, amending Act No.
001/PR/2007 of 5 January 2007, on the general state budget for 2007.
- 554. The Government points out that, while it was examining with the
employers the errors in the pay scales and the repercussions of applying these errors,
the UST and the Free Confederation of Workers of Chad (CLTT) called on their members to
stage a three day strike, which could possibly be extended. This led the Government to
engage in negotiations with the two trade union confederations, which resulted in the
signing of a memorandum of understanding on 11 November 2011 on a new pay scale
established by Decree No. 1249 of 12 November 2011. According to the Government, the
memorandum of understanding is clear and unambiguous, in that the index point value
remains unchanged.
- 555. The annual financial impact of the pay scale was valued at 12.5
billion CFA francs. Considering the State’s capacity to absorb this impact in 2012, it
was agreed that the pay scale would be applied gradually, starting at 20 per cent in
2012, 40 per cent in 2013 and 40 per cent in 2014. An intermediate pay scale, taking
into account the 20 per cent, and a table calculating pay-outs under that pay scale were
developed for 2012. The Government states that it did everything it could to ensure the
implementation of the memorandum of understanding; however, the UST argued that the pay
indices should have been multiplied by 150 instead of by 115. Furthermore, the UST has
criticized the fact that the salaries of certain State employees have stagnated and have
even been cut in some cases.
- 556. The Government acknowledges that the pay cuts in question were
caused by a computer hitch. However, the errors were corrected immediately. It regrets
that, despite numerous meetings with the social partners, at which it had tried to
explain that the technical problems had been corrected automatically and that, when the
memorandum of understanding had been signed in November 2011, there had been no question
of increasing the index point value, the UST toughened its position. The UST initiated a
strike on 17 July 2012 without taking into account the opinion of the CLTT, which is a
signatory to the same memorandum of understanding.
- 557. According to the Government, the Union of Social Affairs and Health
Workers (SYNTASST) also participated in the strike called by the UST, despite having
signed a memorandum of understanding with the authorities and having agreed to a
three-year social truce, which expired in 2014. The Government regrets that the UST went
from staging a go-slow strike to an all-out strike that even applied to essential
services, thereby endangering the life and safety of the entire population. According to
the Government, the UST, by preventing requisitioned state employees from working in
certain essential services, is responsible for the death of several people. The strike
is also in violation of Act No. 008/PR/2007 of 9 May 2007 regulating the exercise of the
right to strike in public services.
- 558. The UST then ventured into the political arena by attacking the Head
of State and his family in a petition that was made public. The judiciary was seized of
the matter and brought charges against those responsible for the petition.
- 559. Furthermore, the Government denies that it refused mediation by
religious leaders and by the Network of Human Rights Associations and states that it has
always wanted to promote dialogue through the National Social Dialogue Committee (CNDS),
a tripartite body established by Decree No. 1437/PR/PM/MFPT/09 of 5 November 2009 and
responsible, inter alia, for facilitating the settlement of social conflicts. Thus, 18
January 2013 saw the official opening of negotiations in the premises of the CNDS with a
view to reaching a social pact.
- 560. The Government considers that not only was the memorandum of
understanding of 11 November 2011 terminated unilaterally; the memorandum of
understanding between the Government and SYNTASST was too. This situation could have
escalated and public order could have been jeopardized. In this case, the Government
could have taken the measures necessary to ensure the maintenance of order.
- 561. However, the Government states that it had been convinced that the
crisis could be resolved only through dialogue and had been able to demonstrate, once
again, its good faith by reviewing all the measures that were considered by the UST to
be a prerequisite for negotiation, in order to defuse the atmosphere. These measures
included: (1) the outright cancellation of the assignments of the union officials; (2)
the non-withholding of the salaries of employees who went on strike; (3) the
continuation of the financial impact of the memorandums of understanding unilaterally
terminated by the unions; and (4) the adoption of standardized agreements for employees
in the public service. On this last point, a draft collective agreement for contractual
employees in the public sector was prepared, adopted and discussed by the Cabinet
Council. The draft should be adopted by the Government in the near future.
- 562. Regarding the demand by the UST to reverse the conviction of the
trade union officials, the Government states that it is for the judicial authorities to
decide, in view of the independence of the judiciary.
- 563. The Government affirms its desire to uphold social peace and its
commitment to achieving a successful outcome in this case.
C. The Committee’s conclusions
C. The Committee’s conclusions- 564. The Committee observes that this case concerns allegations of
harassment and discrimination against members of the Union of Trade Unions of Chad
(UST), in particular the transfer, arrest and conviction of its officials for taking
strike action.
- 565. The Committee notes that the difficulties that are alleged in the
present case have resulted from the application of an increase in the guaranteed
inter-occupational minimum wage in the public sector and, in particular, from a
disagreement between the Government and the complainant organization over the methods of
applying this increase, following the signature of a memorandum of understanding in
November 2011. The Committee also observes that some technical hitches in the computer
system also hampered the application at first, but that, according to the Government,
the problems were quickly resolved. Nevertheless, the complainant organization alleges
that the new pay scale has had a negative impact on the pay of some State employees.
According to the UST, all these difficulties and the absence of corrective measures by
the authorities led it to file a strike notice in May 2012, for a period that the trade
union confederation extended twice in order to allow for possible negotiations. However,
in the view of the lack of contact with the Government, the strike was initiated on 17
July 2012 in the public services, and lasted for two months.
- 566. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, the Union of
Social Affairs and Health Workers (SYNTASST) also participated in the strike called by
the UST, despite having signed a memorandum of understanding with the authorities and
having agreed to a three-year social truce, which expired in 2014. The Government
considers that the staging of the strike represented a unilateral termination not only
of the memorandum of understanding of 11 November 2011, but also of the memorandum of
understanding between the Government and SYNTASST. In this regard, according to the
Government, the situation could have escalated and public order could have been
jeopardized. The Government alleges, in particular, that the strike affected essential
services, thereby endangering the life and safety of the population. According to the
Government, the UST, by preventing requisitioned state employees from working in certain
essential services, is responsible for the death of several people. The strike is also
in violation of Act No. 008/PR/2007 of 9 May 2007 regulating the exercise of the right
to strike in public services.
- 567. The Committee notes that, according to the complainant organization,
the persistent refusal by the Government to respond to its demands under the pretext
that the State did not have the necessary financial resources led it to adopt, in
September 2012, a petition which denounces the poor governance in the management of the
country’s financial resources. The intention of the complainant organization was to
criticize the hoarding of the country’s wealth by the Head of State and the people close
to him. The Committee observes that the Government considers this petition to be a
political attack against the Head of State and his family.
- 568. The Committee notes that, according to the complainant organization,
the situation then became strained. In order to relieve the pressure, the UST agreed to
a period of truce and to suspend the strike action. However, its officials were
subjected to ongoing harassment until they were convicted, on 18 September 2012, for
defamation and incitement to racial hatred, by the Attorney-General of the Republic,
even though they had gone to the prosecution services to report an attempted kidnapping.
The General Secretary, the President and the Vice-President of the UST were each given a
suspended sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment and fined 1,000,000 CFA francs (equivalent
to €1,550) for defamation and incitement to racial hatred, after a half-hour trial.
Furthermore, the complainant organization alleges that, during the sentencing, a union
activist, Mr Gustave MBaïlou Betar, was convicted for contempt of court and was
sentenced to three months in prison and fined 300,000 CFA francs. He served his prison
sentence under conditions that led to his death on 9 December 2012 at the General
Hospital of National Reference. The Committee notes that the complainant organization is
requesting the reversal of the rulings that were handed down.
- 569. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that, following the
publication of the petition, the judiciary was seized of the matter and brought charges
against those considered to be responsible for it. Concerning the request by the UST to
reverse the convictions of its officials, the Government states that it is for the
judicial authorities to decide, in view of the independence of the judiciary.
- 570. Noting the contents of the petition in question, the Committee
wishes simply to recall the following principles in relation to the freedom of
expression of trade unions and employers’ organizations: the right to express opinions
through the press or otherwise is an essential aspect of trade union rights. The freedom
of expression which should be enjoyed by trade unions and their leaders should also be
guaranteed when they wish to criticize the government’s economic and social policy [See
Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, fifth
(revised) edition, 2006, paras 155 and 157]. The Committee trusts that the Government
will ensure respect for these principles. Furthermore, it requests the Government to
keep it informed of any appeals against the convictions of the UST officials and to
indicate to it any final decision that is handed down in this regard.
- 571. The Committee notes that, according to the complainant organization,
despite its decision to observe the suspension until its expiry (31 March 2013), no
contact was established between the parties throughout the suspension of the strike by
the UST. This conduct by the Government led the workers to resume the strike. However,
the Government allegedly threatened to apply Act No. 008/PR/2007 regulating the exercise
of the right to strike in public services in order to declare the strikes illegal. The
Committee notes that, in a press briefing, the Government stated that the UST’s strike
was groundless, that it had decided to cancel the memorandum of understanding of 3 June
2011 with SYNTASST and the memorandum of understanding of 11 November 2011 with the UST
and the CLTT, and that it reserved the right to apply the legislation in force to the
requisitioned workers who would not return to work.
- 572. The UST recalls that the legislation in question has been subject to
the criticism of the Committee on Freedom of Association in a previous case (Case No.
2581) but has still not been amended as requested. On that occasion, the Committee had
recalled the principles of freedom of association relating to the exercise of the right
to strike in public services and the determination of a minimum service. It had
requested the Government to take the necessary steps to review its legislation [see
354th Report, paras 1112–1115]. The Committee notes with regret that this matter
continues to be the subject of follow-up by the Committee of Experts on the Application
of Conventions and Recommendations, without there having been any reported progress (see
2013 comments on the application of Convention No. 87 by Chad). The Committee is bound
to reiterate its previous recommendation, namely that it requests the Government to take
the necessary steps to review, in consultation with the social partners concerned, its
legislation relating to the exercise of the right to strike in public services (Act No.
008/PR/2007 of 9 May 2007) to ensure the determination of a minimum service in
accordance with the principles of freedom of association. Noting that the Government has
adopted an order (No. 624/PR/PM/2013) concerning the establishment of a tripartite
Ad Hoc Negotiation Committee (CAN), to find ways, in accordance with section 1 of the
order, to ensure the regular functioning of public and private services, the Committee
urges the Government to keep it informed of the work of the CAN in this regard.
- 573. Lastly, the Committee notes that the complainant organization
alleges that reprisals were taken against the union officials who led the strike in the
health sector, including the arbitrary administrative transfers of several UST officials
(Mr Younouss Mahadjir, Mr François Djondang, Mr Montanan N’Dinaromtan, Ms Rachel Naty
N’Doukolngone, Ms Djerane Laoumaye and Mr Richard Abdoulaye) in several of the country’s
towns. In this regard, the Committee notes with interest the Government’s statement to
the effect that, in order to demonstrate its good faith, it decided to review the
demands that were considered by the UST to be a prerequisite for negotiation, including
the outright cancellation of the re-assignments of the union officials and the
non-withholding of the salaries of employees who went on strike. While welcoming this
decision by the Government to calm the situation, the Committee nevertheless wishes to
recall the principle that no one should be penalized for carrying out or attempting to
carry out a legitimate strike [see Digest, op. cit., para. 660].
The Committee’s recommendations
The Committee’s recommendations- 574. In the light of its foregoing interim conclusions, the Committee
invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
- (a) The
Committee requests the Government to ensure the respect of the principles that it
recalls in relation to the freedom of expression of employers’ and workers’
organizations, and to keep it informed of any appeals initiated against the
convictions handed down in September 2012 against the officials of the Union of
Trade Unions of Chad and to indicate any final decision rendered in this
regard.
- (b) The Committee notes with regret that, since its last
recommendation on the need to amend Act No. 008/PR/2007 regulating the exercise of
the right to strike in public services, there has been no reported progress. It is
bound to, once again, request the Government to take the necessary steps to review,
in consultation with the social partners concerned, its legislation relating to the
exercise of the right to strike in public services (Act No. 008/PR/2007 of 9 May
2007) to ensure the determination of a minimum service in accordance with the
principles of freedom of association. The Committee urges the Government to keep it
informed of the work of the Ad Hoc Negotiation Committee (CAN) in this
regard.