Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Côte d'Ivoire (Ratification: 1961)

The Committee notes the observations from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) received on 31 August 2016 concerning issues addressed in the present comment and concerning cases of anti-union discrimination. The Committee requests the Government to send its comments on the latter.

The Committee notes the adoption of Act No. 2015-532 of 20 July 2015 on the Labour Code.

Article 4 of the Convention. Right of trade union organizations to collective bargaining. Criteria for representativeness. The Committee notes that, pursuant to the Labour Code, a trade union organization, in order to be representative, must have a sufficient following in the sector of activity and the geographical region that it covers (section 54.1). The following of a workers’ trade union shall be considered sufficient in the context of the establishment or enterprise where the trade union has obtained, on the occasion of the latest elections of staff delegates, in the first or second round, at least 30 per cent of the valid ballots cast representing at least 15 per cent of the registered electors (section 54.2(1)). The following shall in all cases be considered sufficient, in a broader occupational and geographical context, where the organization is representative in one or more enterprises jointly employing at least 15 per cent of the employees working in the occupational sector and geographical area concerned (section 54.2(2)). Recalling that the establishment of an excessively high threshold of representativeness can be an obstacle to the promotion and development of free and voluntary collective bargaining, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the right of trade unions to collective bargaining, where none of them reaches the required threshold.

Right to collective bargaining of employers’ organizations. Criteria of representativeness. Pursuant to section 54.2(3) of the Labour Code, the following of a trade union or an organization of employers shall in all cases be considered sufficient either where it groups together at least 30 per cent of the enterprises in its geographical area and sector of activity, or where it groups together enterprises which jointly employ at least 25 per cent of the employees working in its geographical area and sector of activity. Recalling that the establishment of an excessively high threshold of representativeness can be an obstacle to the promotion and development of free and voluntary collective bargaining, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures, in consultation with the social partners, to reduce the fixed minimum requirements, in order that an employers’ organization may be considered as representative, so as to facilitate employers’ participation in the negotiation and conclusion of collective agreements.

Article 6. The right to collective bargaining of public servants not engaged in the administration of the State. The Committee notes that, under section 73.7 of the Labour Code, the possibility of concluding collective agreements in the public service applies only to personnel of public services, enterprises and establishments that are not governed by specific conditions of service set out in law or regulation. Recalling that the Convention applies to all public servants who are not engaged in the administration of the State, the Committee requests the Government to specify how, and on the basis of which text, public servants not engaged in the administration of the State who may be subject to specific conditions of service set out in law or regulation, enjoy their right to collective bargaining.