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

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Papua New Guinea (Ratification: 2000)

In its previous comments, the Committee had noted the steps taken towards the adoption of the sixth draft Industrial Relations Bill which, according to this year’s government report, had gone through several deliberations, revisions and amendments, with the latest and final version being Industrial Relations Bill 2011. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, the Industrial Relations Bill 2011 had been endorsed by the national Tripartite Consultative Council in the Ministry of Labour and Industrial Relations and submitted to the Central Agency Consultative Council awaiting deliberations before going to the National Executive Council, and eventually into Parliament, where it is expected to be passed by the end of 2012. The Committee also notes that the Government indicates that it realizes the importance of compliance with the views of the Committee and hopes to amend inconsistent provisions of the Industrial Relations Bill 2011 in due course. In this respect the Committee hopes that the Industrial Relations Bill 2011 will take into account its comments with respect to several sections of the Industrial Organizations Act (sections 35(2)(b) (concerning qualifications for trade union membership); 22(1)g (concerning refusal of registration to an industrial organization); 55 (concerning cancellation of an industrial organization’s registration); 39(1)(b) and (d) (concerning qualifications for serving as an officer of an industrial organization); 39(4) (concerning the removal of trade union officers); and 5(1), 40, 58 and 60(1)(b) (all granting excessive powers to the registrar to investigate union accounts and demand information)).

Furthermore, the Committee expects that all the comments provided in the past concerning different draft bills prepared by the Government will be taken duly into account. Noting the Government’s commitment to provide a copy of the Industrial Relations Bill 2011, as soon as it is adopted, the Committee recalls that the Government can avail itself of the ILO technical assistance so as to ensure that the final draft before Parliament will be in full conformity with the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide in its next report any information regarding the legislative development.