Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2000, publiée 89ème session CIT (2001)

The Committee notes with regret that for the second year in succession the Government’s report has not been received. It must therefore repeat its previous observation which reads as follows:

1.  Article 3 of the Convention (right of workers’ organizations to elect their representatives in full freedom).  The Committee recalls that sections 1 and 2 of Act No. 88/009 of 19 May 1988 on freedom of association and the protection of trade union rights, amending the Labour Code, provide that any person having lost the status of worker cannot either belong to a trade union or take part in its leadership or administration, and that trade union officers must be members of a trade union. The Committee repeats its request that excessive restrictions regarding the requirement that trade union officers must belong to the same occupation should be relaxed in order to ensure that qualified persons, such as those employed by the trade unions or pensioners, may carry out union duties.

2.  Articles 5 and 6 of the Convention (the right of workers’ organizations to establish federations and confederations of their own choosing).  The Committee had noted that the new Constitution of 14 January 1995 enshrined the possibility of trade union pluralism and freedom of association (article 10). While noting that, according to the Government, section 30 of Act No. 61/221 introducing the Labour Code provides that trade unions can affiliate to form associations, the Committee recalls that section 4 of Act No. 88/009 of 19 May 1988, amending the Labour Code, still provides that trade unions constituted in federations and confederations may group together in a single central national union. Given that the Government had indicated in its previous reports that legislation would be adopted to implement the constitutional provisions, the Committee once again requests it to communicate the relevant texts as soon as they are adopted repealing the reference to a single central national union contained in Act No. 88/009.

3.  Articles 3 and 10 of the Convention.  Furthermore, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to section 11 of Ordinance No. 81/028 of 1984 concerning the Government’s power of requisition in the event of a strike, when so required in the "general interest". The Committee considers it necessary to restrict powers of requisition to cases in which the right to strike may be limited or even prohibited, namely in services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population, or in a situation of acute national crisis (see General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, 1994, paragraphs 152 and 159).

The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in its next report of developments in the situation in both law and practice and to indicate the measures taken to amend sections 1, 2 and 4 of the Act of 1988 and section 11 of the Ordinance of 1984 in order to bring them into conformity with the requirements of the Convention.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the very near future.