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

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Gabon (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee notes the observations made by the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) in a communication received on 1 September 2014.

The Committee recalls that its previous comments referred to the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), received in 2011, relating to restrictions on the right to strike in the public sector on the frequently stated grounds of ensuring public safety. In the absence of a reply in this respect, the Committee urges the Government to provide information on the number of strikes in the public sector during the next reporting period, the sectors concerned and the number of strikes prohibited on the grounds that they may disrupt public order.

The Committee also referred previously to the observations received from Education International (EI), which denounced the adoption of various regulatory instruments that have been making the exercise of union activities in the education sector increasingly difficult, and particularly the Circular of 4 April 2011 (No. 000294/MENESRSIC/ SG/DAPE) of the Director of the Estuaire Provincial Academy, which prohibits trade unions from conducting any activities in establishments in which teachers work. According to EI, this Circular was in violation not only of the provisions of the Convention, but also of Act No. 18/92 on the establishment and operation of trade unions. The Committee therefore requested the Government to take the necessary measures to make it possible for the representatives of trade unions to have lawful access to teachers in educational establishments. In the absence of a reply in this regard, the Committee urges the Government to specify the measures taken in the education sector to ensure that the trade unions have access to educational establishments so that they can perform their duty of representing and defending their members’ interests.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.