Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Saint Lucia (Ratification: 1980)

Article 2 of the Convention. Right of workers and employers to establish organizations of their own choosing. Minimum membership requirements. In its previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to reduce the minimum founding membership requirement for trade unions and for employers’ organizations, which was set at 30 and ten, respectively (section 14 of the Registration, Status and Recognition of Trade Unions and Employers’ Organizations Act, 1999). The Committee notes with satisfaction that, with the entry into force of the Labour Act 2006 (which repeals the Registration, Status and Recognition of Trade Unions and Employers’ Organizations Act, 1999), on 1 August 2012, the minimum founding membership for a trade union and for an employers’ organization has been brought down to 20 and six respectively (section 335(3) of the Labour Act 2006).

Right of workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish and to join organizations. For several years, noting that the “protective services” – which include the fire services and prison officers – were excluded from the Registration, Status and Recognition of Trade Unions and Employers’ Organizations Act, 1999, the Committee had requested the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the right to organize to fire service personnel and prison staff. The Committee notes that section 325 of the Labour Act 2006 also excludes “protective services” (which according to section 2 of the Act include the fire service and the correctional services) from the scope of application of the provisions which are dealing with the right to organize in the new legislation. Noting that the Government indicates in its report that the issue of the right to organize fire service personnel and prison staff would be raised with the Minister of Labour, and recalling previous indications that the workers of these services benefit in practice from this right, the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the manner in which service personnel and prison staff are assured the organizational rights provided in the Convention.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.