Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Ecuador (Ratification: 1967)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report and recalls that its previous comments concerned:

- the denial of the right to organize to civilian employees of the armed forces (Case No. 1664 of the Committee on Freedom of Association);

- the loss of the guarantee of job security by workers who participate in sympathy strikes (section 65 of Act No. 133);

- the implicit denial of the right to strike for federations and confederations (section 491 of the Labour Code); and

- the responsibility for the decision resting with the Ministry of Labour in the event of disagreement between the parties as to the minimum services to be maintained in the event of a strike in services considered by the Government to be essential, even if they are not necessarily so, including when the State is a party to the dispute (new section 503 of the Labour Code).

From the information supplied in its report, the Committee notes that the Government reiterates in general terms the viewpoints expressed previously, without providing any new element to show that the Government is interested in giving full effect to the provisions of the Convention.

Under these conditions, the Committee is bound to re-emphasize its previous observations and once again request the Government to take measures to amend the legislation so that the civilian employees of the armed forces have the right to establish their own organizations, if they so wish; workers who participate in a sympathy strike enjoy the guarantee of job security set out in section 496 of the Labour Code; to ensure that the exercise of the right to strike is not limited to federations and confederations; and that disagreements between the parties on minimum services in the event of a strike in services that are not essential in the strict sense of the term are resolved consensually.

The Committee hopes that the Government will provide information in its next report on any progress achieved on the above matters.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 1997.]