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

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Ethiopia (Ratification: 1963)

The Committee notes the comments submitted by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), in a communication dated 30 August 2013, which refer to issues pending before this Committee and the Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA) in Case No. 2516, as well as the Government’s observations thereon. The Committee also notes the report of the ILO Mission that made a working visit to the country at the invitation of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs from 13 to 16 May 2013. The Committee welcomes the outcome of the Mission in the form of the Joint Statement on the Working Visit of the ILO Mission to Ethiopia, which was signed on 16 May 2013 by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, on behalf of the Government of Ethiopia, and by the Director of the International Labour Standards Department, on behalf of the International Labour Organization.

Article 2 of the Convention. Right of workers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish organizations. Teachers. In its previous comments, the Committee had urged the Government to ensure that the National Teachers’ Association (NTA) is registered without delay so that teachers may fully exercise their right to form organizations for furthering and defending teachers’ occupational interests. The Committee notes that, according to the Joint Statement, the Government is ready and committed to register the NTA under the Charities and Societies Proclamation (No. 621/2009), and, following discussions with the Charities and Societies Agency (CSA), agreement was reached to register the NTA in accordance with the Proclamation. In addition, the Committee notes that, in its report, the Government: (i) urges the Committee to take into consideration that it has never denied the registration of the NTA and that it is the organization that has failed to fulfil the registration requirements under the Charities and Societies Proclamation; and (ii) indicates that, since the signing of the Joint Statement, the NTA has never appeared for registration nor has sought to submit its application to the CSA. As regards the registration requirements, the Committee refers to its previous observation of 2010, in which it had identified a number of provisions of the Charities and Societies Proclamation that raised issues of compatibility with the Convention. Furthermore, the Committee considers that since more than four years had elapsed without the CSA issuing any decision (whether affirmative or negative) concerning the registration of the NTA, it has thus deprived this organization of the possibility to appeal. The Committee recalls that such a long registration procedure constitutes a serious obstacle to the establishment of organizations and amounts to a denial of the right of workers to establish organizations without previous authorization. Moreover, the Committee notes from the information provided by the NTA to the mission that the long idle time as a non-registered association and years of harassment have led to a situation where the conditions that the NTA had met or could have easily met at the time of application might be difficult or impossible to fulfil at present. The Committee, encouraged by the commitment undertaken by the Government in the Joint Statement, firmly expects that, in light of the special circumstances described above, the necessary measures will be taken to ensure that the appropriate authorities promptly and unconditionally register the NTA, so as to eventually resolve this longstanding issue in line with the provisions of the Convention.

Civil servants and employees of the state administration. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that neither the Labour Proclamation nor the Federal Civil Servants Proclamation was guaranteeing civil servants and employees of the state administration the exercise of freedom of association rights. The Committee notes that, according to the Joint Statement: (i) the Government has reiterated its commitment and determination to follow-up on the Committee’s comments concerning the Labour Proclamation and the Civil Servants Proclamation, and indicates that the civil service reform is a broad exercise and that a recent comprehensive assessment review undertaken is proposing a civil service reform roadmap; (ii) there is a common understanding of all parties concerned that the Constitution embeds the right of all workers to be able to establish and join organizations of their own choosing; (iii) the Government takes note of the view of the ILO supervisory bodies that the current legislative framework does not fully give effect to this right as regards civil servants, since the Charities and Societies Proclamation only enables individual civil service associations to be registered as professional associations; and (iv) in this regard, the Government reaffirmed its commitment to the mission to continue to make every effort to address these issues as a matter of priority. The Committee feels encouraged by the Government’s commitment and the indication in its report that it is in the process of undertaking an in-depth study in this regard. Having understood from the Mission report that the comprehensive civil service reform has recently undergone major adjustments, the Committee highlights that freedom of association is an enabling right which renders possible the exercise of all other rights at work and firmly expects that, while pursuing the civil service reform, the right to organize will first be granted to all civil servants, including teachers in public schools and employees of the state administration.

Articles 2 and 3. Right of workers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish organizations; and right of workers’ organizations to organize their activities and formulate their programmes. In its previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to amend the following sections of the 2003 Labour Proclamation: section 3 (need to guarantee the right to organize of several categories of workers excluded from the scope of application of the Proclamation); sections 136(2), 143(2), 158(3) and 160(1) (restrictions to the right of organizations freely to organize their activities and formulate their programmes); and section 120(1)(c) (need to ensure that the cancellation of the registration of an organization is not based on provisions of the Labour Proclamation identified as restricting the right to organize). The Committee notes that, according to the Joint Statement: (i) in view of the fact that the Committee has been requesting the Government for several years to amend certain provisions of the Labour Proclamation, the Government has reiterated its commitment and determination to follow up on these comments; (ii) the Government has reviewed all relevant provisions and the Tripartite Labour Advisory Board has completed its review of these amendments, which will soon be submitted to the Council of Ministers; and (iii) the Government commits to do all it can to expedite the process for the submission of the amendments to Parliament. In addition, the Committee notes that the Government indicates in its report that: (i) while acknowledging the comments on section 136(2) in principle, the country is not economically strong enough to minimize the list of essential services in which strike action is prohibited, and in a few years it would hopefully be in a position at least to exclude air transport and urban bus services from the list; and (ii) the intention behind sections 143(2) and 160(1), and section 158(3) is not properly understood by the Committee. In this regard, the Committee refers to paragraphs 132, 147 and 153 of its 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions and firmly trusts that the necessary measures will be taken by the Government without delay, and in full consultation with the social partners, to amend the abovementioned provisions of the Labour Proclamation, so as to bring it into full conformity with the provisions of the Convention in the near future. It requests the Government to provide detailed information in its next report on any progress made in this respect.

Lastly, noting that, according to the Joint Statement, the Government, as well as employers’ and workers’ organizations, consider that ILO technical assistance would be important to assist them in moving forward on all the issues raised by the ILO supervisory bodies, the Committee hopes that such technical assistance will take place in the very near future and invites the Government to establish with the Office a timetable in this regard.