Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

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

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report. It notes in particular the Government’s indications that funding has been provided for work to continue on a preliminary draft of the Labour Code.

It recalls that its previous comments related to sections 1, 2 and 4 of Act No. 88/009 of May 1988 on freedom of association and the protection of the right to organize, amending the Labour Code, and to section 11 of Order No. 81/028 of 1984 concerning the Government’s power of requisition in the event of a strike:

-  section 1 of Act No. 88/009 provides that any person having lost the status of worker cannot either belong to a trade union or take part in its leadership or administration;

-  section 2 of the Act provides that trade union officers must be members of a trade union;

-  section 4 of the Act provides that trade unions constituted in federations and confederations may group together in a single central national union.

The Committee had noted in previous comments that sections 1 and 2 of Act No. 88/009 may infringe the right of organizations to elect their representatives in full freedom. The Committee had requested the Government to relax excessive restrictions concerning the requirement that trade union officers belong to the same occupation in order to ensure that qualified persons may carry out union duties. In a previous report, the Government had indicated that in the preliminary draft of the Labour Code these restrictions would be replaced by more flexible provisions.

The Committee also noted that section 4 of Act No. 88/009 infringes the right of workers’ organizations to establish federations and confederations of their own choosing. In a previous report, the Government had indicated in this respect that it noted the relevance of this observation and that the provisions of this section would effectively be abolished by not including them in the draft of the new Labour Code.

With regard to section 11 of Order No. 81/028 respecting the Government’s power of requisition in the event of a strike when so required in the general interest, the Committee emphasized that it is necessary to restrict powers of requisition to cases in which the right to strike may be limited, or even prohibited, namely in services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population, or in a situation of acute national crisis.

The Committee recalls that in its previous report the Government indicated that the work of revising the Labour Code had commenced. However, the Committee notes that in its latest report the Government provides no information on the progress made in this revision. It therefore once again requests the Government to keep it informed of the progress made in the work of revising the Labour Code and to supply a copy of the preliminary draft Labour Code with its next report so that the Committee can examine its conformity with the provisions of the Convention. In this regard, the Committee reminds the Government that it can avail itself of technical assistance from the Office if it so wishes.