Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2007, Publicación: 97ª reunión CIT (2008)

The Committee notes the Government’s report. It also notes the comments of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) of 28 August 2007, which refer to various acts of anti-union discrimination. The Committee asks the Government to send its comments in this regard.

Article 4 of the Convention. 1. Majorities required to engage in collective bargaining. The Committee recalls that it has been commenting for many years on the fact that, in order to engage in collective bargaining, a trade union must represent an absolute majority of the workers in an enterprise or the workers in a branch of activity (sections 109 and 110 of the Labour Code). The Committee notes the Government’s statement to the effect that on 18 July 2007, the Consultative Committee on Labour held a meeting with a view to establishing consensual proposals between the social partners and the Government for amending the legislation. The Committee regrets to note that despite the amount of time that has elapsed, no specific progress has been made with regard to amending the legislation. The Committee asks the Government to take the necessary steps to bring its legislation fully into line with the provisions of the Convention and to keep it informed of any developments in this respect.

2. Coverage of collective bargaining in the public and private sectors in practice. The Committee notes that the Government has not sent any information in this respect. The Committee asks the Government to provide statistics on the collective agreements concluded in the private and public sectors, including in export processing zones, indicating the number of workers covered by these agreements.

3. Comments by the ITUC. The Committee previously noted the comments by the ITUC on the absence of effective sanctions for acts of anti-union discrimination, the dismissal on trade union grounds of leaders in sugar plantations, the drawing up of blacklists of trade unionists in export processing zones and the dismissal of all the founding members of a trade union which the administrative authority had refused to register. In this regard, the Committee notes that the Government has provided information on the campaigns for the promotion, dissemination and observance of labour legislation in sugar refineries, the labour inspections carried out on sugar plantations, the workshops on labour law and the satisfactory settlement of labour disputes in export processing zones, the campaign to disseminate information on labour rights and fundamental Conventions, and the effective registration of the trade union which the administrative authority had previously refused to register, but that it has not provided any concrete information on the allegations made by the trade union. The Committee reminds the Government that in the event of allegations of acts of anti-union discrimination, investigations should be carried out without delay, and that if the allegations are confirmed, sufficiently dissuasive sanctions should be imposed. The Committee therefore asks the Government to carry out a full investigation into the matters referred to by the ITUC and to inform it of the outcome. It also requests the Government to provide further information on the absence of effective sanctions for acts of anti-union discrimination.