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

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

The Committee notes the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), received on 31 August 2016, concerning the continued obstacles to the application of the Convention, and the Government’s reply on this subject. The Committee also notes the observations of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), received on 1 September 2016, which are of a general nature.

In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to amend certain legislative provisions to bring them into conformity with Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention:

• -section 386 of the Labour Code, under the terms of which the exercise of the right to strike shall on no account be accompanied by the occupation of the workplace or its immediate surroundings, subject to the penal sanctions established in the legislation in force. In this regard, the Committee recalled that restrictions on strike pickets and the occupation of the workplace are acceptable only where the action ceases to be peaceful. However, it is necessary in all cases to ensure observance of the freedom of non-strikers to work and the right of management to enter the premises;
• -the Order of 18 December 2009, issued under section 384 of the Labour Code, which lists establishments that may be subject to requisitioning for the purpose of ensuring a minimum service in the event of a strike. The Committee observes that certain of the services contained in the list could not be considered essential services or require the maintenance of a minimum service in the event of a strike, such as mining and quarrying, public and private slaughterhouses, university centres. The Committee therefore requested the Government to revise the list of establishments which may be subject to requisitioning for the purpose of ensuring a minimum service in the event of a strike to ensure that requisitioning is only possible in: (i) services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population (essential services in the strict sense of the term); (ii) services which are not essential in the strict sense of the term, but in which strikes of a certain extent and length could give rise to an acute crisis threatening the normal living conditions of the population; or (iii) public services of fundamental importance.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the process of revising the Labour Code has commenced, in consultation with the social partners, and that following the revision, the Order of 18 December 2009 referred to above respecting requisitioning will be amended as a consequence. The Committee trusts that the Labour Code will be adopted in the near future and that it will give full effect to the provisions of the Convention on the points recalled above. It requests the Government to provide a copy of the Labour Code when it has been adopted, and any relevant implementing texts.

As regards its previous comments on the right of minors to join trade unions, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the intervention of parents or guardians under section 283 of the Labour Code on the ability of 16-year-old workers or apprentices to join trade unions.

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