Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

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

The Committee notes the comments of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) dated 4 August 2011, as well as the Government’s reply. The Committee also notes the Government’s reply to the comments received in 2009 from the ITUC concerning the refusal to recognize the Trade Union Federation of the Public Sector (CSP), and particularly that it has not received the approval of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization and that, consequently, the CSP has no legal existence, but that the envisaged reforms would provide a basis for resolving this problem. The Committee recalls that public servants, like all other workers, without distinction whatsoever, must benefit from the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing, without previous authorization, for the promotion and defence of their occupational interests. It hopes that the CSP will be registered in the near future.

The Committee further notes the comments of the General Union of Workers of Cameroon (UGTC), dated 20 September 2010 and 9 September 2011, and the Cameroon United Workers Confederation (CUWC), dated 20 October 2011. The Committee requests the Government to provide its observations on these comments in its next report.

Article 2 of the Convention. For many years, the Committee has been requesting the Government to take the necessary measures to amend Act No. 68/LF/19 of 18 November 1968 (under the terms of which the existence in law of a trade union or occupational association of public servants is subject to prior approval by the Minister of Territorial Administration).

The Committee has also been requesting the Government for many years to take the necessary measures to amend section 6(2) of the Labour Code of 1992 (which provides that persons establishing a trade union which has not yet been registered and who act as if the said union has been registered shall be liable to prosecution) and section 166 of the Labour Code (establishing heavy fines for members of a union who commit this offence).

The Committee recalls the Government’s indication in its previous report that the adoption of the amendments under consideration would replace the current system for the registration of trade unions, which is equivalent to a system of previous authorization, by a procedure of declaration and would not involve penal sanctions for violations of the law; moreover, the power to cancel the registration of an organization would lie solely with the judicial authorities, thereby bringing an end to the possibilities for the dissolution of organizations by administrative authority. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security has established a committee for the revision of the Labour Code and its implementing texts, and that the provisions respecting trade unions will be revised to bring them into conformity with the provisions of the Convention. The Government adds that the current revision of the Labour Code and the adoption of an Act on trade unions will, among other issues, resolve the problem of trade unions in the public sector. The Committee is therefore bound to reiterate its firm hope that, in the framework of the envisaged reforms, the Government will be in a position to indicate without further delay the progress achieved on all these points.

Article 5. For many years, the Committee has been requesting the Government to take the necessary measures to repeal section 19 of Decree No. 69/DF/7 of 6 January 1969 (under the terms of which trade unions or associations of public servants may not join a foreign occupational organization without obtaining prior authorization from the minister responsible for “supervising public freedoms”). Noting that on this matter the Government refers once again to the envisaged reforms, the Committee once again urges it to take the necessary measures without delay to amend the legislation with a view to removing the requirement for previous authorization for the affiliation of trade unions of public servants to an international organization.

The Committee once again expresses the firm hope that the process of reforming the legislation will result in the near future in the legislation being brought into conformity with the requirements of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide copies of all the legislative texts adopted in this connection.