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

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Yemen (Ratification: 1976)

The Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government in its latest report. It also takes due note of the 1999 Bill on trade unions and wishes to raise the following points.

Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee for a number of years has requested the Government to amend or repeal the provisions on trade union monopoly which remained in  the Labour Code of 1995 (sections 2, 131(c) and 145(2)). In this respect, the Committee notes with concern that the new Bill of 1999 also refers by name to the General Federation, in particular, in sections 2, 13, 18, 32 and 62 and that sections 19 and 52 provide that this Confederation shall assume the leadership of the trade union movement. The Committee recalls that although it was clearly not the purpose of the Convention to make trade union diversity an obligation, it does at the very least require this diversity to remain possible in all cases. There is a fundamental difference between, on the one hand, a trade union monopoly established or maintained by law and, on the other hand, voluntary groupings of workers or unions that occur without pressure from the public authorities, or due to the law. Convention No. 87 implies that pluralism should remain possible in all cases (see General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, 1994, paragraphs 91 and 96). The Committee takes due note of the information provided by the Government in its report that it is currently reviewing the drafting of a few provisions of the Labour Code so as to insert some amendments in the light of the comments made by the Committee as well as re-examine the draft Bill on trade unions which was accepted by the Council of Ministers, and which has been referred to the legislative authority. The Committee expresses the firm hope that the necessary measures will be taken to amend the Labour Code and draft Bill in order to delete all references to specific unions or confederations and requests that the Government keep it informed of any developments in this respect.

Article 3. In its previous comments, the Committee had also requested that the Government amend or repeal restrictions on industrial action by trade unions (section 16 of Ministerial Order No. 42 of 1975 concerning procedures for the settlement of labour disputes). The Committee had noted that certain provisions of the Code set out conditions for legitimate strike action which were too strict, namely that strikes could only be called following the completion of dispute settlement procedures, and that under sections 130, 137 and 139 of the Code the dispute could be referred to compulsory arbitration at the request of only one of the parties and the exercise of the right to strike could be suspended for 85 days. The strike call must have been submitted to the general trade union concerned, it must have been signed by two-thirds of its members and the trade union committee must have obtained written approval from the General Federation of Trade Unions. The strike must concern more than two-thirds of the workforce of the employer concerned and three weeks’ notice of intention to strike must be given (section 145). The Committee considers that the fact that strike action must be approved by the General Federation of Trade Unions, by its very nature restricts the right of trade union organizations to organize their activities and to further and defend workers’ interests. The Committee therefore had requested the Government to repeal the provisions concerning the prior approval by the General Federation of Trade Unions in order to call a strike and to amend the provisions concerning arbitration which considerably restrict the exercise of the right to strike. Noting the indications in the Government’s latest report that it will take the comments of the Committee into consideration with respect to provisions covering strikes in the Labour Code, and will make the necessary amendments thereto, the Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report the progress made in this regard.

The Committee further notes from the Government’s report that the draft Bill on trade unions clarifies many texts dealing with freedom of association, the right to organize, the establishment of political parties, etc. In this regard, the Committee notes that sections 13 to 28 of the Bill deal with the organizational structure of trade unions as well as the bodies of the Confederation in a very detailed manner and therefore limit the right of workers to organize freely their administration in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention. The Committee therefore requests that the Government amend the Bill so as to eliminate such interference in the right of workers’ organizations to organize their administration.

Given the importance of the discrepancies between the draft Bill on trade unions and the provisions of the Convention, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the availability of ILO technical assistance in respect of the abovementioned matters should it so desire.

As concerns workers who are not covered by the Labour Code (i.e. foreign and casual workers, domestic workers and certain agricultural workers), the Committee had requested the Government to indicate whether and in accordance with which provision it recognizes such workers’ right to organize for the defence of their interests. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its latest report to the effect that the Minister of Labour and Vocational Training is currently preparing, by virtue of section 4 of the Labour Code, draft texts concerning such workers. The Committee requests the Government to supply the relevant drafts, as well as the text of any new regulations made under the new Labour Code and any other applicable texts.