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

Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151) - Peru (Ratification: 1980)

Application of the Convention in practice

1. The Committee notes the Government’s reply to the comments of 7 April 2006 by the National Union of Public Employees of the Armed Forces (SINEP-FFAA) concerning the delay in entering the organization in the trade union register. The Committee takes due note of the Government’s statement that the organization was entered in the Register on 3 May 2006.

2. The Committee notes the comments submitted by the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP) referring to Supreme Decree No. 001-2007 which reduces the amount of trade union leave with pay in the public education sector, in disregard of pre-established agreements, and Supreme Decree No. 11-2007 to amend the Regulations to the Act on the teaching profession and to reduce the representation of SUTEP in the Standing Committee on Administrative Proceedings.

The Committee notes the Government’s reply to the effect that: (1) since trade union leave is not regulated in the regime governing public employment, the rules of the Act on collective labour relations likewise apply to that sector; consequently, the leave may amount to 30 calendar days a year, unless there is an agreement to the contrary; (2) there has been no breach of any ratified Conventions or of any collective agreement in force, but a nationwide priority training plan has been established for the purpose of raising standards of teaching in public establishments and social expenditure, which has made it necessary to reduce the amount of time off with pay; (3) Article 6 of the Convention establishes that facilities must be granted, but that they must not impair the efficient operation of the administration or service concerned. The Committee takes note of this information. It asks the Government to ensure that consultations are held prior to any decision affecting trade union rights, even where existing collective agreements contain no clauses on the subject covered by such decisions.

3. With regard to the reduction of SUTEP’s representation in the Standing Committee on Administrative Proceedings, the Committee observes that the Government has not commented on this matter and that there is not sufficient information to determine how representative SUTEP is. In these circumstances, the Committee requests the Government to ascertain that the number of members representing SUTEP in the Standing Committee on Administrative Proceedings is commensurate with its representativeness.

4. The Committee also notes the comments made by the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP), the Single Confederation of Workers of Peru (CUT), the Autonomous Confederation of Workers of Peru and the National Coordination of Contract Workers of the Ministry of Health, which refer to the adoption, without prior consultation, of Legislative Decree No. 1057 establishing the Administrative Services Contract (CAS), which allows subordinate workers in state entities to be hired under temporary contracts, renewable at the discretion of the public authority. The above organizations indicate that such an arrangement overlooks the right of association of these workers. Since the Committee has received no reply from the Government, it requests it to ensure the exercise of the trade union rights of these workers, and to report on the matter.

5. Lastly, the Committee observes that the CGTP’s comments refer to legal texts addressed in the Committee’s observation on Convention No. 87.