Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1993, published 80th ILC session (1993)

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

1. Privileges granted to trade unions belonging to a revolutionary organization. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes with interest that Ordinance No. 78-006, of 1 May 1978, issuing the Charter of Socialist Undertakings, which only recognized for workers who were members of trade unions belonging to a revolutionary organization the right to be elected to works committees in the above undertakings, thereby applying a distinction between trade union organizations which is of a nature to jeopardize the rights of workers to join the trade union of their choosing, has been repealed by Ordinance No. 92/029, of 17 July 1992, which repeals the above Charter.

2. Right to organize of seafarers. The Committee reminds the Government that under the terms of the national legislation no provision explicitly recognizes the right to organize of these workers, even though certain rights relating to the right to organize are recognized by the legislation (the right to conclude collective agreements to determine their wages (section 3.5.03 of the Martitime Code, as amended in 1966), the procedure for the collective settlement of disputes and the right to strike following an opposition to an arbitration award (Act No. 70-002 of 23 June 1970 respecting individual and collective disputes in the merchant navy and its implementing Order No. 3012-DGTP/SSM of 1970)).

In these circumstances, the Committee once again requests the Government to include a provision in its legislation explicitly to guarantee seafarers the right to organize.

3. Requisitioning of persons. The Committee recalls that the conditions giving rise to the right to requisition persons set out in Act No. 69-15, of 15 December 1969, have too broad a scope to be compatible with the principles of freedom of association. Indeed, sections 20 and 21 of this Act empower the Minister to resort to this procedure when a situation of national necessity is proclaimed or in the event of a threat to a sector of economic life in order to safeguard the interests of the nation, whereas requisitioning to bring to an end a strike is only admissible in essential services in the strict sense of the term, that is those whose interruption would endanger the life, personal safety of health of the whole or part of the population, in the case of public servants acting in their capacity as agents of the public authority or in the event of a strike, the extent and duration of which are liable to give rise to an acute national crisis.

The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the cases in which it has requisitioned persons during the period covered by the report and to envisage amending this provision in order to confine its scope to the situations described above.

4. Finally, the Committee is addressing a direct request to the Government concerning the right to organize of public servants.