Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949 (No. 94) - Burundi (Ratification: 1963)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its reports, and in particular the adoption of Decrees Nos. 1/015 of 19 May 1990 and 100/120 of 18 August 1990 on public contracts. In this connection, the Committee wishes to draw attention to the following points.

Article 2 of the Convention. Further to its previous comments, the Committee is bound to recall that, under Article 2, paragraphs 1 and 2, of the Convention, the workers employed in public contracts are entitled to wages and labour conditions at least as good as those normally observed for the kind of work in question, whether determined by collective agreements, arbitration or legislation. The reason the Convention refers to collective agreements first is that collective agreements, or agreements reached through some kind of negotiation or arbitration, normally prescribe more favourable conditions than the conditions flowing from legislation. The insertion therefore of labour clauses in public contracts seeks to guarantee that the workers concerned enjoy labour conditions not less favourable than whichever is the most favourable of the three alternatives provided for in the Convention, i.e. collective negotiation, arbitration or legislation. Therefore, while noting the Government’s indication that collective agreements by sectors have not as yet been concluded, the Committee asks the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that section 2 of Presidential Decree No. 100/49 of 11 July 1986 is applied in practice in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Convention.

In addition, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that no specific measures have been taken to ensure that persons tendering for contracts are aware of the terms of the labour clauses. In fact, section 26 of Decree No. 100/120 of 18 August 1990 concerning the specifications of public contracts does not expressly provide that invitations to tender should contain information on the labour clauses. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take all appropriate measures to ensure that the terms of the labour clauses are brought to the notice of tenderers in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Convention.

Part V of the report form. The Committee notes the statistical information contained in the Government’s report regarding the number of public contracts awarded in 1999 and 2000 as well as the number of workers engaged in the execution of some of those contracts. It requests the Government to continue to provide, in accordance with Article 6 of the Convention and Part V of the report form, all available information on the practical application of the Convention, including, for instance, copies of public contracts containing labour clauses, extracts from official reports, information concerning the number of contracts awarded during the reporting period and the number of workers covered by relevant legislation, statistics from inspection services on the supervision and enforcement of relevant legislation and any other information bearing on the practical implementation of the requirements of the Convention.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 2003.]