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

Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95) - Belgium (Ratification: 1970)

Article 11 of the Convention. Protection of wage claims in the event of bankruptcy. The Committee notes the joint comments submitted by the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (CSC), the General Federation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium (CGSLB) and the General Labour Federation of Belgium (FGTB) concerning the Act on the Continuity of Enterprises of 31 January 2009, which repeals the Act on Judicial Composition Proceedings of 17 July 1997. The new Act allows enterprises in difficulty to opt for judicial reorganization proceedings so as to continue with all or part of their activities. Under these proceedings, the employer–debtor is granted a moratorium that must not exceed six months, with a view to reaching an amicable agreement with the creditors on a restructuring plan that must specify the periods of payment, the reduction of outstanding debts and, if applicable, the conversion of receivables into shares and the differentiated settlement of certain categories of debts, depending on the extent or nature of these debts. This plan has to be approved by the majority of creditors representing at least half of the claims involved. The CSC, the CGSLB and the FGTB, for their part, state that the conditions for approving the reorganization plan do not guarantee that workers are adequately informed of their rights during the proceedings and tend to benefit other creditors, such as banks or large suppliers, to the detriment of wage earners who, in practice, have to bear a reduction of 50–70 per cent of their wage debts, and sometimes even more, under the majority of plans. On the assumption that wages constitute a vital component guaranteeing the subsistence level of workers and their families, the three trade union organizations believe that wage debts should not be exposed to commercial risk or be conditional upon procedures undertaken from a purely market standpoint. In their observations, the CSC, the CGSLB and the FGTB also point out that wage earners, considered as ordinary creditors, have no privileges whatsoever and that the commercial courts, who are the only ones competent in the matter, systematically refuse to apply the Protection of Remuneration Act of 12 April 1965, citing the principle of speciality. The Committee requests the Government to submit comments concerning the joint observations by the CSC, the CGSLB and the FGTB.