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

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Bolivia (Plurinational State of) (Ratification: 1973)

The Committee notes the Government's report and recalls that its previous comments referred to the exclusion from the scope of the General Labour Act of agricultural workers (section 1 of the General Labour Act) and, as a consequence, to:

- the absence of measures to protect workers against acts of anti-union discrimination (Article 1 of the Convention);

- the absence of measures to protect trade union organizations against acts of interference by employers (Article 2); and

- a lack of information on collective bargaining.

Although the Committee notes that, according to the Government, the preliminary draft of the General Labour Act has taken into account the Committee's comments, it can only regret the fact that, despite the time which has elapsed, the text has not been adopted.

The Committee once again hopes that the new General Labour Act will protect all workers, including permanent and temporary agricultural workers, against acts of anti-union discrimination, will protect their organizations against acts of interference by employers, and will be combined with effective and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions, and that the above Act will be approved in the near future. The Committee requests the Government to supply information in its next report on collective bargaining in the agricultural sector (collective agreements concluded and statistics) and on the progress made in the adoption of the preliminary draft text of the General Labour Act.