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

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Mauritius (Ratification: 2005)

The Committee notes the observations from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) received on 1 September 2014 and the observations from the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) received on 1 September 2014. The Committee also notes the observations of the General Workers Federation (GWF) and four unions of the sugar industry received on 22 August 2013, as well as the reply of the Government thereon.

Article 2. Right to establish and join organizations. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide further information on the number of trade unions and the rate of unionization in export processing zones (EPZs), including vis-à-vis migrant workers, and on the activities undertaken by the Special Migrant Workers’ Unit. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government that the Special Migrant Workers’ Unit undertakes regular inspection visits to workplaces where migrant workers are employed to ensure compliance with contracts of employment and legislation. Officers of the Unit check whether migrant workers have copies of their contracts of employment, and inform workers of their rights and obligations. In cases of no-compliance, follow-up inspections are carried out to ensure that corrective measures were taken. For the period under review, a total of 976 routine inspections and 435 follow-up visits were undertaken. The Committee further notes the Government’s statistics on the membership of ten trade unions including EPZ workers, and observes that the membership of none of those trade unions includes migrant workers. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on measures taken or envisaged to ensure that migrant workers may effectively exercise in practice the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing, as enshrined in the Convention.

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