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

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

The Committee notes the Government's report.

With reference to its previous direct request on the question of the right to organize of seafarers, the Committee notes with interest the content of the collective agreement dated 6 April 1991 setting out the terms and conditions of employment of seafarers in the commercial sector, which contains under Title II clauses relating to the exercise of the right to organize, and provides, in particular, that the contracting parties undertake to respect freedom of opinion and the right to join and belong to a trade union freely.

The Committee also notes with interest the draft Labour Code attached by the Government to its report which, inter alia, establishes the possibility of trade union pluralism (new section 19.2bis). The Committee nevertheless notes that certain provisions of the draft Code should be modified to bring them into greater conformity with the principles of freedom of association:

- as regards the requirement for an unemployed person of having to belong to a trade union in order to join a trade union while he is still unemployed (new section 190), the Committee is of the view that it is for the trade unions to decide in their by-laws on this matter;

- with regard to the minimum service "indispensable to safeguard the general interest" to be maintained in the public service, which is organized by the employer, wherein refusal to participate is deemed to constitute serious misconduct (section 248.16), the Committee considers advisable that such a service should be subject to negotiations between the parties and that it should meet two requirements. It should genuinely and exclusively be a minimum service, that is one which is limited to the operations which are strictly necessary to meet the basic needs of the population or the minimum requirements of the service, while maintaining the effectiveness of the pressure brought to bear. Secondly, the organizations of workers should be able, if they so wish, to participate in defining such a minimum service, along with employers and the public authorities. In the event of disagreement between workers and employers on the scope of the minimum service, the parties should be able to establish a joint body or have recourse to an independent body responsible for examining rapidly the definition of such a minimum service;

- concerning the prohibition on the right to strike for political reasons (section 248-5), the Committee recalls that political strikes are not protected by the Convention; nevertheless, protest strikes against the economic and social policy of the Government should be allowed;

- with regard to sympathy strikes, which are unlawful when the employees undertaking the sympathy strike are not concerned in any way by the grounds for the strike (section 248.5), the Committee considers that workers should be able to call sympathy strikes provided that the initial strike they are supporting is itself lawful;

- concerning the participation in illegal strikes which result in breach of contract (section 248-12), the Committee considers that such a provision should only be applied if a strike ceases to be peaceful.

In addition, the Committee has taken due note of the content of Decree No. 91-672 abolishing the check-off in favour of the sole Congolese Trade Union Confederation. However, it notes that the draft Labour Code currently being prepared does not contain a provision authorizing workers and employers to include a clause in collective agreements on the deduction of trade union dues from the wages of workers with the written consent of the latter.

The Committee requests the Government to envisage the possibility of making these modifications to the draft Labour Code with a view to bringing its provisions into greater conformity with the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any measure taken in this respect and to supply it with a copy of the text of the Labour Code once it has been adopted.