Individual Case (CAS) - Discussion: 1987, Publication: 73rd ILC session (1987)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Liberia (Ratification: 1962)

A Government representative said that the draft Revised Labour Code (drafted with ILO assistance and revised by a tripartite committee) had taken into account all the comments of the Committee of Experts. With respect to the right of civil servants to organise there was no legal provisions in the Civil Service Act which prohibited them from exercising this right. Nevertheless, the Government had taken due note of the comments of the Committee of Experts and would do everything necessary to have the right to organise mentioned in the Amendment to the Civil Service Act. Regarding Decree No. 12 of 1982 (forbidding strikes) Article 4601-A of the Labour Practices Law (which prevented agricultural workers from joining industrial unions) and Section 4112 (10) and (11) of the same law (requiring the Labour Ministry to supervise union elections) the Government representative said that these provisions had all been repealed in the draft Revised Labour Code which would be adopted before the next ILO Conference. The speaker nevertheless stressed that in practice there did exist organisations of agricultural workers and public servants and others (he gave various examples) that strikes had taken place without persecutions, and that trade union elections were not supervised by the Ministry of Labour unless there was an invitation from the unions concerned.

The Worker member of Liberia stressed the importance of legal provisions to guarantee trade union rights and activities for agricultural workers, and workers in State enterprises and the public sector. There had been cases in practice where, for example, trade union activities had been prohibited in the agricultural sector through a writ obtained by a lawyer. There were public institutions in which the right to trade union organisation had been denied. Although it had been stated that Decree No. 12 concerning strikes had been nullified by the Constitution, this Decree could still be used. In conclusion, there was a need for laws on these two issues, and it must be hoped that the Government representative would transmit to his Government the concerns of the present committee.

The Workers' members recalled that the application of the Convention was a matter for concern and had been discussed for many years. Thanks to the statements that had just been made they could have a clearer idea of the development of the situation. The Office had the text of the new Constitution and a draft of the Revised Labour Act. One had to examine the extent to which these texts took into consideration the comments of the Committee of Experts on the provisions which were incompatible with the Convention, with reference to the right to organise of agricultural workers, workers in State undertakings in the public service, the right to strike and the right to hold free trade union elections. The Workers' members associated themselves with the concern expressed by the Worker member of Liberia on such matters as the trade union rights of agricultural and public service workers. They expressed the hope that the Government would send the necessary information to the Committee of Experts, and that in the following year they would be able to confirm progress with full conformity between the legislation and the Convention.

The Employers' members associated themselves with the statement of the Workers' members. It was a matter for the Committee of Experts to examine the new Constitution and the draft of the Revised Labour Code in order to assess the extent to which the Convention was applied. It must be hoped that the next report to the Committee of Experts would allow for a more precise understanding of the situation.

The Government representative of Liberia thanked the Workers' and Employers' members for their statements, and provided his assurances that the Government would do everything possible to see that the situation was rectified.

The Committee took note of the information provided by the Government representative and the discussion that had taken place. The Committee recalled that a number of important divergencies between the legislation and the Convention had for many years been noted by the Committee of Experts. The Committee urged the Government to take rapid action to adopt the necessary measures and in particular a new labour code in order to ensure full compliance with the Convention both in law and in practice, and to ensure that trade union rights would be fully assured to agricultural workers and public servants. The Committee expressed its hope that next year the Government would be able to report that real progress had been made in this connection.