Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Algeria (Ratification: 1962)

The Committee notes the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) received on 1 September 2015 on the persistent violations of the Convention in practice. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this respect.

The Committee also notes the joint observations of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and the General Confederation of Algerian Enterprises (CGEA) received on 31 August 2015.

The Committee notes the observations of the General and Autonomous Confederation of Workers in Algeria (CGATA) received on 31 May 2015 denouncing the recurrent difficulties for independent trade unions in registering and developing their activities, and communicating its analysis of the new draft Labour Code. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in response to the CGATA.

Follow-up to the conclusions of the Committee on the Application of Standards (International Labour Conference, 104th Session, June 2015)

The Committee takes note of the discussion that took place at the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in June 2015, concerning the application of the Convention by Algeria. The Committee notes that, in its conclusions, the Conference Committee requested the Government to: (i) provide detailed information regarding the new draft labour code including by providing a copy of it; (ii) ensure that there are no obstacles to the registration of trade unions in law or practice and act expeditiously to process pending applications for trade union registration; and (iii) reinstate public service employees who have been dismissed on grounds of alleged anti-union discrimination.

Legislative issues

The Committee refers to the conclusions of the Conference Committee inviting the Government to provide a copy of the new draft Labour Code and notes that the Government provided a copy of the bill in its version dated October 2015. In this regard, the Committee notes that in March 2015 the Office sent the Government technical comments on the bill and that the Government indicates in its report that 77 per cent of the technical comments made by the Office resulted in a reformulation of the draft in order to bring it into line with international labour standards. The Committee is formulating, in a request addressed directly to the Government, certain comments on the bill of the new Labour Code concerning the application of the Convention and trusts that the Government will duly take them into account. The Committee trusts that the Government will spare no effort to ensure the adoption of the new Labour Code without further delay, that the process will necessarily include consultation with the representative employers’ and workers’ organizations in order to take their views into account, and that the Government will take measures to adopt the modifications requested by the Committee.

Moreover, the Committee trusts that the Government will not fail to take the necessary measures to amend the other legal provisions, as below, which have been the subject of comments for a number of years, and that it will report in this regard in the near future.

Article 2 of the Convention. Right to establish trade union organizations. The Committee recalls that its comments have focused on section 6 of Act No. 90-14 of 2 June 1990 on the exercise of the right to organize, which restricts the right to establish a trade union organization to persons who are Algerian by birth or who have had Algerian nationality for at least ten years. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Act in question will be amended as requested in order to secure the right to form trade unions for foreign nationals. Regardless of efforts to lower the threshold period of acquisition of Algerian nationality for the purpose of exercising trade union rights, the Committee trusts that the Government will take measures to revise section 6 of Act No. 90-14 without further delay so as to secure to all workers, without distinction as to nationality, the right to establish a trade union.

Trade union registration in practice

The Committee notes that the June 2015 conclusions of the Conference Committee refer to the need for the Government to ensure that there are no obstacles, in law or practice, to the registration of trade unions and to act expeditiously to process pending applications for trade union registration. The Committee notes that, in its report, the Government refers to the registration of five trade unions in 2015 in various sectors, bringing the number of registered trade unions and employers’ organizations to 100. The Committee nevertheless notes with regret that the Government has not provided information on the situation of the organizations, mentioned by the ITUC in its observations, whose registration has been pending for several years. Those organizations are the Higher Education Teachers’ Union (SESS), the National Autonomous Union of Postal Workers (SNAP) and the CGATA. The Committee also notes, with regard to the SESS and the SNAP, whose first applications for registration were submitted in 2012, that these trade unions have lodged a complaint with the Committee on Freedom of Association, which has requested the Government to process their registration as a matter of urgency (Case No. 2944, 374th Report, paragraph 17). Noting the observations of the ITUC and the CGATA on the ongoing challenges for newly established independent trade unions to obtain registration, the Committee recalls that 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, in accordance with Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee therefore urges the Government to guarantee the speedy registration of trade unions which have met the requirements set out by law, and trusts that it will report on the registration of the SESS, SNAP and CGATA in the very near future.

Article 5. Right to establish federations and confederations. The Committee recalls that its comments have focused on sections 2 and 4 of Act No. 90-14 which, read together, have the effect of limiting the right to establish federations and confederations to one occupation or branch or to the same sector of activity. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that section 4 of the Act will be amended to include a definition of federations and confederations. The Committee trusts that the Government will take all necessary measures to revise section 4 of Act No. 90-14 without further delay in order to remove any obstacles to the establishment by workers’ organizations of federations and confederations of their choosing, irrespective of the sector to which they belong.

Lastly, the Committee notes that, in its conclusions, the Conference Committee also requested the Government to reinstate public service employees who were dismissed on grounds related to alleged anti-union discrimination. In this regard, the Government indicates in its report that the civil servant clerks in question had been suspended further to disciplinary action brought against them in accordance with public service regulations for reasons unrelated to their trade union activity. The Government also specifies that all these civil servants have taken up their new positions. The Committee takes note of this information.

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