Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

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

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received.

Article 2 of the Convention. Trade union rights of apprentices. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s statement that the former Labour Code made no express provision for the trade union rights of apprentices, and asked it to envisage, as part of the revision of the Labour Code, the inclusion of a provision expressly guaranteeing the trade union rights of apprentices. The Committee notes that the provisions on apprentices in the new Labour Code of 2008, contain no express guarantee of the trade union rights of apprentices. Recalling that the denial of the right to organize of workers undergoing a probationary period can raise problems of application regarding the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the manner in which the trade union rights of apprentices are guaranteed.

Right to organize of minors. The Committee notes that section 283 of the Labour Code provides that children of at least 16 years of age may belong to trade unions unless there is opposition from the father, mother or guardian. The Committee observes that this provision is not consistent with Article 2 of the Convention which establishes the right of all workers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish and join organizations of their choosing. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary steps to guarantee the right to organize of minors who have reached the statutory minimum age for admission to employment (16 years according to section 152 of the Labour Code), whether as workers or as apprentices, without the need for authorization from a parent or a guardian.

Article 3. Right of organizations to carry on their activities freely and to formulate their programmes. Minimum service. The Committee notes that according to section 384 of the Labour Code, in order to ensure a minimum service, the competent administrative authority may at any time proceed to requisition workers in private enterprises and public services and establishments who carry out work which is indispensible to the safety of persons and goods, to maintenance of the peace, to continuity of the public service or to satisfaction of essential needs of the community. The Committee notes that according to section 385 of the Labour Code, the list of jobs, the conditions and procedures for requisitioning workers, notification, and means of publication, are set in regulations issued by the Ministry of Labour after consultation of the Labour Advisory Committee. The Committee recalls that the maintenance of minimum services in the event of a strike should be possible only; (1) in services the interruption of which would be liable to endanger the life, public safety or health of the whole or part of the population (essential services in the strict sense of the term); (2) in services which are not essential in the strict of the term but in which a strike could, owing to its extent and length, lead to an acute national crisis threatening the normal living conditions of the population; and (3) in public services of fundamental importance. Furthermore, it is important that not only the public authorities, but also the employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned, should participate in determining minimum services and the number of workers needed to maintain them. This not only allows a careful exchange of viewpoints of what, in a given situation, can be considered to be the minimum services that are strictly necessary, but also contributes to guaranteeing that the scope of the minimum service does not result in the strike becoming ineffective in practice because of its limited impact, and to dissipating possible impressions in the trade union organizations that a strike has come to nothing because of over-generous and unilaterally-fixed minimum services. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information in its next report on the practical effect given to sections 384 and 385 of the Labour Code, including the list of jobs for which the competent authority may requisition workers to maintain a minimum service in the event of a strike, specifying whether the representative organizations concerned were consulted.