Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Nicaragua (Ratification: 1967)

The Committee notes the observations made by the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) in a communication received on 1 September 2014 and the Government’s reply thereon. The Committee also notes the Government’s reply to the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and to the 2005 and 2006 observations of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) (now the ITUC) concerning which the Committee had requested a reply in a direct request in 2010.

Article 3 of the Convention. Right of workers’ organizations to organize their activities in full freedom and to formulate their programmes. The Committee recalls that for several years it has been referring to the need to take measures to amend sections 389 and 390 of the Labour Code, which provide that collective disputes shall be referred to compulsory arbitration when 30 days have elapsed since the calling of the strike. In this regard, the Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report provided in May 2014 that there have been no changes in national law and practice in relation to sections 389 and 390 of the Labour Code. The Committee recalls once again that if a dispute is referred to compulsory arbitration when 30 days have elapsed since the calling of the strike, the decision should only be binding on the parties where they have all accepted it, or in the case of an essential service in the strict sense of the term, or where the strike is being held in a context of acute national crisis. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend sections 389 and 390 of the Labour Code as indicated above, and to report any developments in this regard.