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

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

The Committee notes the Government’s report and the discussions that took place in the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards at the 2002 session of the Conference. The Committee also notes the reports of the Committee on Freedom of Association on the various cases pending that concern Colombia adopted at its meetings of March, June and November 2002.

The Committee once again notes with grave concern the climate of violence in the country and particularly the conclusions that the Committee on Freedom of Association formulated in Case No. 1787 in November 2002. In those conclusions the above committee noted that for the year 2002 there have been "a total of 83 murders" and that the Committee is bound once again to regret the fact that, despite the various bodies that have been established and the investigations conducted by those bodies, and even in some cases the arrests of suspects, the Government has not thus far reported any actual convictions of individuals for the murders of trade unionists (see 329th Report, paragraphs 378 and 379). Like the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary steps to end this situation of insecurity and allow workers’ and employers’ organizations to enjoy in full the rights granted to them by the Convention, and to establish and strengthen the institutions needed to put an end to the intolerable situation of impunity prevailing in the country, which is a serious obstacle to the free exercise of trade union rights.

The Committee recalls that it has been commenting for many years on certain provisions of the legislation, namely:

-  the prohibition on the calling of strikes by federations and confederations (section 417(i) of the Labour Code);

-  the prohibition on strikes not only in essential services in the strict sense of the term (namely, services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population) but also in a wide range of services which are not necessarily essential (section 450(1)(a) of the Labour Code and Decrees Nos. 414 and 437 of 1952; 1543 of 1955; 1593 of 1959; 1167 of 1963; 57 and 534 of 1967) and the possibility of dismissing trade union officers who have intervened or participated in an unlawful strike (section 450(2) of the Labour Code), even when the unlawfulness of the strike rests on requirements which are contrary to the principles of freedom of association; and

-  the power of the Minister of Labour to refer a dispute to arbitration when a strike lasts longer than a specified period (section 448(4) of the Labour Code).

The Committee regrets to note in this connection that in its report the Government merely states that there have been no changes in the legislation. The Committee recalls that during its examination of the application of the Convention at its meeting of June 2002, the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards observed that the Government had stated that questions concerning the application of the Convention had been placed before the Consultative Commission on Social and Labour Policies. In this context, the Conference Committee asked the Government to send a detailed report so that the Committee of Experts could examine the situation again at its next meeting. The Committee accordingly urges the Government to take steps to bring its legislation into full conformity with the provisions of the Convention, for instance by adopting the preliminary draft legislation prepared during the direct contacts mission in February 2000.

Lastly, the Committee notes that the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the Colombian Workers’ Confederation (CTC) have sent comments on the application of the Convention, and asks the Government to send its observations thereon.