Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1990, published 77th ILC session (1990)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Gabon (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee takes note of the new comments made by the Trade Union Confederation of Gabon (COSYGA), transmitted by the Government. It also takes note of the Statutes of the COSYGA.

The Committee recalls that its previous comments concerned the following points:

- the impossibility of establishing more than one union in a given occupation or a given region and the obligation placed on every workers' or employers' organisation to affiliate with the Trade Union Confederation of Gabon (COSYGA) or the Employers' Confederation of Gabon (CPG) (sections 173 and 174 of the Labour Code);

- the imposition of a trade union solidarity tax deducted each month by the employers for the COSYGA, the rate of 0.4 per cent of a worker's wage being fixed by decree (Act No. 13/80 of 2 June 1980 and Decree No. 9000882/PR/MFPTE);

- the imposition of compulsory arbitration, making it legally impossible to call a strike (sections 239, 240, 245 and 249 of the Labour Code) even though in practice strikes may be called without legal action being taken.

For several years, the Committee has been drawing the Government's attention to the fact that the legislation is not consistent with the Convention in that it provides that workers may establish only one union in a given occupation, that unions must affiliate with the COSYGA, the sole confederation, and that the solidarity tax is deducted for the sole confederation, designated by name.

The Government has consistently stated that the fact that this situation is confirmed in the law is the result of the wish of the workers and not of the will of the Government to interfere with the freedom of workers to set up unions of their own choosing in the future.

In its latest comments, the COSYGA reaffirms that trade union unity is the result of the wish of the workers and that the introduction of the trade union solidarity tax responds to the COSYGA's need for independence from extra-national trade unions, which used to subsidise the central trade union organisations, and that no discontent has been reported from workers. The COSYGA adds that it is not opposed to a trade union security clause being inserted in the general collective agreement but that certain elements, particularly the rates and variations of deductions at source, should not be the subject of negotiations.

While noting these statements, the Committee recalls that the obligation by law to affiliate to the COSYGA implies that trade unions must comply with the statutes of the single confederation; in this connection, an examination of the statutes of the COSYGA reveals that the organisation of the trade union movement, the activities of its various affiliates - provincial professional unions, provincial unions, national federations - are established by the single central trade union. The legislation therefore leaves the workers no other choice but to group together in the manner laid down by the Statutes of the COSYGA, i.e. in a system of trade union unity, thereby impeding the emergence of any other structure.

The Committee once again draws the Government's attention to the fact that the Convention does not aim to make trade union pluralism compulsory, but it does imply that such pluralism should be possible in all cases. The legislation should therefore allow the workers, should they so wish, to establish trade unions of their own choosing outside the existing structure. With regard to union security clauses which, in the present context, reinforce trade union monopoly because they are instituted by law to the benefit of a single central trade union designated by name, the Committee recalls that, in order to be compatible with the Convention, they should be negotiated between the social partners, it being understood that the workers themselves, through their trade union organisations, determine the rates of trade union dues.

As regards the question of recourse to compulsory arbitration, the Committee recalls its previous comment to the effect that the right to strike is one of the means available to trade unions to further and defend the interests of their members (Article 10 of the Convention) and to organise their activities ( Article 3). Restrictions or prohibitions on calling strikes should only be admissible in exceptional cases for workers in essential services in the strict sense of the term, namely services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population or in the event of an acute national crisis (in this connection, see paragraphs 199 to 226 of the General Survey on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining of 1983, concerning the right to strike).

In its previous observation, the Committee noted that a general review of the Labour Code was being undertaken and that the Government requested the Committee to grant the necessary time to carry this out, particularly in view of the delicate nature of some of the points to be revised.

The Committee again expresses the hope that, as part of this review, it will be possible to amend the legislation to take account of the Committee's comments, and requests the Government in its next report to provide information on the measures taken in this respect.