Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1989, published 76th ILC session (1989)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Panama (Ratification: 1966)

The Committee notes the Government's report.

In the comments that it has been making since 1967, the Committee has been asking the Government to grant the right to bargain collectively to public servants not engaged in the administration of the State, since under Article 6 of the Convention it is only the narrow category of public servants engaged in the administration of the State who may be excluded from the guarantees provided for by the Convention.

The Committee notes the Government's statement in its report that it has abandoned the draft Decree to which it referred in previous reports, through which it was preparing to give effect to Book III of the Labour Code to public employees, since it hopes that the Legislative Assembly will debate next year a Bill to regulate administrative careers, granting the rights of association, collective bargaining, strikes and arbitration to public servants.

After examining the above Bill, the Committee notes that the possibility of concluding collective agreements is excluded from the forms of negotiation envisaged in the Bill. The Committee emphasises that organisations of public officials and employees who are not engaged in the administration of the State should be able to negotiate collective agreements, in accordance with Articles 4 and 6 of the Convention and it urges the Government to take steps to include a provision of this nature in the Bill and to supply information in this connection.