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

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

Observations received from trade unions. The Committee notes the comments made by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in a communication dated 4 August 2011 concerning restrictions on the right to strike in the public sector and also problems with exercising trade union rights in the education sector. The Committee also notes the communication of 31 August 2011 from Education International (EI), which denounces the adoption of various regulatory instruments which, it claims, have been making the exercise of union activities in the education sector more and more difficult since 2009. In its communication EI denounces in particular the circular of 4 April 2011 from the Director of the Estuaire Provincial Academy prohibiting trade unions from conducting any activities in educational establishments, i.e. the teachers’ workplace. The Committee recalls that freedom of association implies for workers’ organizations the right to organize their activities in full freedom aimed at defending the occupational interests of their members, including the right of workers’ representatives to have access to all workplaces where such access is necessary to enable them to perform their representative duties. However, access for workers’ representatives to workplaces must of course not be used to the detriment of the efficient functioning of the administration or public institutions concerned. For this reason the workers’ organizations concerned and the employer must seek to reach agreements in such a way that access to the workplace during and outside working hours is recognized for the workers’ organizations without jeopardizing the operation of the administration or public institution concerned. The Committee requests the Government to send its observations on the comments from the ITUC and EI and take the necessary steps in the meantime to ensure that trade union representatives have the possibility of access to teachers in educational establishments, in accordance with the legislation in force.

Furthermore, in its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s indication that the designation of the most representative trade union confederations in the country is not the result of a unilateral decision by the Government, but the outcome of an agreement concluded on 27 March 2007 among six trade union confederations (COSYGA, CGSL, USAP, UTG, CONSINEQ and Intersyndicale), which designated the four most representative organizations to participate in the consultative bodies envisaged by the Labour Code, prior to their subsequent determination through trade union elections. The Committee notes the Government’s confirmation in its latest report that the 2007 agreement still remains in force today and, recognizing that the problem of the representativeness of the trade union confederations persists, repeats its request for assistance from the Office in the organization of occupational elections. Recalling once again that the determination of the most representative organizations must be based on objective, pre-established and precise criteria so as to avoid any possibility of bias or abuse (see the 1994 General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraph 97), the Committee expects that the Government will take the necessary measures to resolve the problem of the representativeness of trade union organizations and hopes that it will be able to avail itself of ILO technical assistance. The Committee requests the Government to indicate any progress achieved in this respect in its next report.