Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 83rd ILC session (1996)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Yemen (Ratification: 1969)

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received.

However the Committee notes the new Constitution, dated 28 September 1994, and particularly Article 57 under which every citizen shall have the right to form unions to serve the objectives of the Constitution and that the State shall take the necessary measures to help the citizens exercise this right.

The Committee is bound to recall that for several years its comments have covered the following points:

(a) the need to adopt specific and appropriate provisions, accompanied by effective and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions, to guarantee explicitly the protection of workers against any act of anti-union discrimination by employers, both at the time of recruitment and during employment, and the protection of workers organizations against acts of interference by employers, contrary to Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention;

(b) the need to adopt appropriate measures to encourage and promote the full development and utilization of machinery for the voluntary negotiation of collective agreements; and

(c) the need to amend the provisions governing the compulsory registration of collective agreements and the possibility of their cancellation in the event that they do not conform with the security and/or economic interests of the country (sections 68, 69 and 71 of the Labour Code of 1970). Even though, according to the Government's previous reports, these provisions are not applied, they are such as to jeopardize the application of Article 4, by virtue of which collective bargaining must be free and cannot be subject to legal restrictions.

The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report the measures which have actually been taken to bring its legislation into conformity with the requirements of the Convention and, in particular, for the adoption of the new Labour Code, the draft text of which was prepared with the technical assistance of the Office, and the new Bill respecting trade unions.