Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Belize (Ratification: 1983)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments made in 2013. The Committee also notes that the Government had been requested to provide information to the Committee on the Application of Standards at the 106th Session of the International Labour Conference for failure to supply reports and information on the application of ratified Conventions.

Repetition

Article 3 of the Convention. Compulsory arbitration. In its previous observation, the Committee noted the Government’s indication that, in the context of the process of reviewing labour legislation, the Labour Advisory Board (LAB) recommended that the Schedule to the Settlement of Disputes in Essential Services Act 1939 (SDESA) be amended so as to exclude from the list of services considered essential in the strict sense of the term, in respect of which the authorities may submit collective disputes to compulsory arbitration, and prohibit or bring an end to a strike: (i) the civil aviation and airport security services (AIPOAS); (ii) monetary and financial services (banks, treasury, Central Bank of Belize); (iii) the PAO Authority (pilots and security services); (iv) postal services; (v) the Social Security Scheme administered by the Social Security Board; and (vi) services through which petroleum products are sold, transported, loaded or unloaded.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that the LAB has concluded its review and that the Ministry of Labour will submit to the Attorney-General’s Office the corresponding legal instructions, including the dissenting views expressed during the tripartite discussions. The Committee welcomes the tripartite initiatives in the process of discussing the amendment of the legislation and requests the Government to provide information in its next report on any developments in this respect.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.