Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Chile (Ratification: 1999)

The Committee notes the comments made by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) dated 30 August 2013 and by the Trade Unions Federation of Supervisors and Professionals of CODELCO Chile (FESUC) on the application of the Convention, as well as the Government’s reply thereto.

For a number of years the Committee has been asking the Government to take steps to amend or repeal the following provisions of the Labour Code which are not in conformity with the Convention: (i) section 1, which provides that the Code does not apply to officials of the National Congress or the judiciary, or to workers in state enterprises or institutions, or those in which the State contributes or in which it participates or is represented, provided that such officials or workers are subject by law to special regulations; (ii) section 82, which provides that the remuneration of apprentices may on no account be determined by means of collective agreements or accords or arbitration awards issued in the context of collective bargaining, and section 305(1), which provides that workers governed by an apprenticeship contract and those engaged solely for a specific task or activity or for a specific period, may not engage in collective bargaining; (iii) section 304, which does not allow collective bargaining in state enterprises dependent on the Ministry of National Defence or which are connected to the Government through this Ministry and in enterprises in which collective bargaining is prohibited by special laws, or in public or private enterprises or institutions in which the State has financed 50 per cent or more of the budget of either of the last two calendar years, either directly or through duties or taxes; (iv) section 334(b), which provides that two or more unions of different enterprises, an inter-enterprise union or a federation or confederation may submit draft collective labour accords on behalf of their members and of the workers who agree to the accords, but in order to do so it shall be necessary that, in the enterprise concerned, an absolute majority of the worker members who are entitled to engage in collective bargaining confer, by secret ballot, representation on the trade union concerned in an assembly in the presence of a public notary; (v) section 334bis, which provides that, for employers, bargaining with the inter-enterprise union shall be voluntary or optional and that where an employer refuses, the workers of the enterprise who are not members of the inter-enterprise union may submit draft collective accords in accordance with the general rules set  forth in Book IV (on collective bargaining) of the Labour Code; (vi) sections 314bis and 315, which provide that groups of workers, even where there are unions, may submit draft collective agreements; and (vii) section 320, which places an obligation on employers to notify all workers in the enterprise of the submission of a draft collective accord so that they can propose draft texts or agree to the draft submitted.

The Committee notes that the Government repeats the statement made in its previous report indicating its willingness to incorporate in the national legislation all the provisions needed to ensure rapid conformity with the Convention. The Committee expresses the hope that the Government will take the necessary measures in the very near future to bring the legislation into full conformity with the Convention. The Committee reminds the Government that, in the context of the legislative reform, it may avail itself of ILO technical assistance if it wishes.