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

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Bahamas (Ratification: 1976)

The Committee notes the comments made by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in a communication dated 16 September 2013, which refer to matters previously examined by the Committee.

Article 2 of the Convention. Protection against acts of interference. The Committee had previously requested the Government to adopt legislative provisions to protect workers’ and employers’ organizations against acts of interference by each other or each other’s agents, accompanied by effective and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions. In this respect, it notes that in its report, the Government indicates that several provisions of the Industrial Relations Act, Chapter 321 of the Statute Law of the Bahamas (IRA) are designed to prevent or minimise the risk of acts of interference and that this protection will be further strengthened through the adoption of the Trade Unions and Industrial Relations Bill, 2000. The Committee recalls that legislative provisions for the protection of organizations against acts of interference need to be specific and cover all acts of interference referred to in Article 2 of the Convention, and that they need to be accompanied by efficient procedures and sanctions to ensure their implementation in practice. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures for the adoption of such legislative provisions without further delay, either through the amendment of the IRA or the adoption of the abovementioned Bill.

Article 4. Representativeness. The Committee previously noted the comments made by the ITUC criticizing the requirement for a trade union to represent 50 per cent of the workers plus one in a unit in order to be recognized for bargaining purposes and the fact that an employer may, after 12 months of unsuccessful negotiations, apply for a union’s recognition to be revoked. The Committee notes with interest that section 43 of the IRA has been amended so as to repeal the right of an employer to make such an application. Concerning the requirement to represent 50 per cent of workers of the bargaining unit (section 41 of the IRA), the Committee had considered that this threshold was excessive and that if no union represented the abovementioned percentage, collective bargaining rights should be granted to all the unions in the unit, at least on behalf of their own members. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend the IRA so as to bring it into conformity with the Convention. It requests the Government to provide information on all measures taken or envisaged in this regard.

Right of prison guards to bargain collectively. With regard to prison guards’ right to organize and to bargain collectively, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that qualified officers enjoy an unrestricted right to join the organization formed to protect and promote their interests, namely the Prison Officers Association (BPOA), and that they are able to collectively express their concerns to the Government on their working conditions. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the BPOA enjoys the collective bargaining rights under the Convention, and, if that is the case, to provide a copy of a collective agreement to which this organization is a signatory or to indicate whether discussions or negotiations are under way.