Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1994, published 81st ILC session (1994)

Collective Bargaining Convention, 1981 (No. 154) - Uganda (Ratification: 1990)

The Committee notes the Government's first report on the application of the Convention.

It requests the Government to supply detailed information in its next report on the following points.

1. Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee notes that prison services are excluded from the application of the Trade Unions Decree, No. 20 of 1976 (section 72(2)) and the Public Service (Negotiating Machinery) Act, No. 78 of 1963 (section 29(a)). It requests the Government to indicate the extent to which the guarantees provided for in the Convention concerning the collective negotiation of conditions and terms of employment apply to prison staff, and to supply any relevant text.

2. Article 5, paragraph 2(a), and Article 8. The Committee notes that the law imposes excessive conditions on the establishment of trade unions (a minimum number of 1,000 members, section 8(3) of the Trade Unions Decree, No. 20 of 1976); that it lays down the trade union monopoly of the National Organization of Trade Unions (NOTU), an organization which is designated by name in the law (section 19(1) and 31 of the Decree); and that it gives very broad powers to the Registrar to refuse or cancel the registration of trade unions (sections 10 and 11 of the Decree). The Committee also notes that the Government itself recognizes in its report that a large number of employers in the private sector are opposed to their employees being members of trade unions with, according to the Government, the objective of limiting collective bargaining; the Committee requests the Government to amend the legislation in order to enable a larger number of workers to join trade unions and as a consequence to collectively negotiate their conditions and terms of employment.

3. Article 5, paragraph 2(c). The Committee requests the Government to report any progress achieved in the negotiations between the Government and the Inspectorate Section with a view to the application of section 19(1) of the Trade Unions Decree concerning the recognition by employers for the purposes of collective bargaining of trade unions representing 51 per cent of the workers.

4. Article 5, paragraph 2(e). The Committee requests the Government to state for the period covered by the report whether recourse has been had to compulsory arbitration for disputes arising out of collective bargaining, under the Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act of 1964, as amended, and, if so, to describe the circumstances and sectors involved.

5. The Committee also requests the Government to supply the text of amendments to the Trade Disputes (Arbitration and Settlement) Act of 1964.