Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Rwanda (Ratification: 1988)

The Committee notes the new draft Labour Code.

1. The right to establish occupational organizations without previous authorization (Article 2 of the Convention). The Committee notes that section 66, subsection 2, of the draft concerning the establishment of workers' and employers' occupational organizations lays down that the statutes of any occupational organization and the names and functions of those who are responsible in any way whatsoever for its administration or leadership must be deposited by the founders of the organization in accordance with the procedure determined by order of the Ministry of Labour.

The Committee recalls that Article 2 of the Convention guarantees the right of workers and employers to establish organizations without previous authorization of the public authorities. National regulations which require certain formalities to be observed when such organizations are established must not be equivalent to previous authorization. Depositing of the rules of an organization is compatible with Article 2 of the Convention if this is merely a formality to ensure that the rules are made public (see paragraphs 68 to 75 of the 1994 General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining).

The Committee considers that the order of the Ministry of Labour referred to in section 66 should be restricted to the purely formal requirements of establishing organizations with the aim of ensuring that the rules are made public.

2. The right of worker's organizations to organize their activities and to formulate their programmes without interference from the public authorities (Article 3). The Committee notes also that section 272 of the draft restricts the right to strike of workers occupying posts essential for the physical safety of persons (...) ensuring the functioning of the country's vital socio-economic sectors and lays down the application procedures by ministerial order.

The Committee recalls that the principle under which the right to strike may be restricted or even prohibited in the essential services would be devoid of any meaning if the national legislation defined these services too extensively and that the only services that can be considered essential are those the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population (op. cit., paragraphs 150 to 162).

The Committee considers that section 272 has too wide a scope and should be restricted to cases of interruption in essential services within the strict meaning of the term.

The Committee requests the Government to take its observations into account and to send it the drafts of the two orders contemplated in association with the draft Labour Code.