Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1992, published 79th ILC session (1992)

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

The Committee takes note of the Government's reports and the information supplied during the discussions of the Conference Committee in 1991.

The Committee recalls that since 1967 it has been commenting on the need to grant the right to bargain collectively to public servants not engaged in the administration of the State.

The Committee also made comments on Act No. 13 of 11 October 1990 which restricts collective bargaining by extending for two years current collective agreements, and by providing that new enterprises or those which have not concluded collective agreements are not obliged to conclude collective agreements, during a period of three years.

The Committee observes that the Government repeats its previous comments on the right of workers in the private sector to organise and the right of certain public sector employees to bargain collectively. In this connection, the Committee reiterates that 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. Since it has not noted any positive developments in relation to this question for several years, the Committee again urges the Government to take the necessary measures in the near future to bring law and practice into full conformity with the Convention.

With regard to Act No. 13 of October 1990, the Government stresses the exceptional and temporary nature of this legislation which concerns "stabilisation policies" and indicates that the Act recognises agreed pay increases, calculated on the basis of their annual mean for each year of the extension and so guarantees protection of the workers, pointing out that such increases would be unlikely to be concluded through negotiation, because of the precarious state of the economy. This Act also recognises temporary accords within collective agreements and permits new agreements to be negotiated directly, so that it does not prohibit or limit the right to negotiate collective labour agreements if the parties agree. The Government also explains that the purpose of Act No. 13 is to improve national production, which dropped considerably as a result of the crisis that affected the country, by maintaining peaceful labour relations so as to attract new investment. However, the Government indicates that under a consultation agreement in social and labour matters, concluded on 4 December 1990 between workers, employers and the Government, the currency of Act No. 13 of October 1990 is being discussed.

While taking note of the above-mentioned consultation agreement in social and labour matters, the Committee recalls that the measures contained in Act No. 13 do not encourage the full development and utilisation of voluntary negotiation as the most appropriate means of regulating conditions of employment by means of collective agreements, as provided for in Article 4 of the Convention. The Committee again asks the Government to take measures to repeal or amend the above-mentioned restrictions.