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

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Aruba

Article 3 of the Convention. Right of workers’ organizations to organize their administration and activities. The Committee recalls that it had previously highlighted the need to amend or repeal section 374(a), (b) and (c) of the Penal Code and section 82 of Ordinance No. 159 of 1964 containing the Conditions of Service of Public Servants, which amounted to prohibiting public employees from striking under penalty of imprisonment. Having noted the Government’s statement that the above provisions did not prohibit public employees from exercising their right to strike, the Committee had nevertheless invited the Government, in consultation with the social partners, to confirm in a legal text that public employees could exercise the right to strike and that no criminal penalties could be imposed for their peaceful participation in strikes. While noting that the Government’s report has not been received, the Committee notes with interest that, pursuant to the Kingdom Act of 3 December 2014, the reservations formerly made for the then Netherlands Antilles, which rendered Articles 6(4) of the European Social Charter and 8(1)(d) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (right to strike) not applicable to civil servants, have been withdrawn with the accord of the Government at Kingdom level, and that this is also valid for Aruba. Furthermore, the Committee understands that a new Penal Code entered into force in Aruba on 27 April 2012, replacing the old Penal Code of the Netherlands Antilles, and that it was amended in 2014. The Committee requests the Government to clarify whether section 374(a), (b) and (c) of the Penal Code of the Netherlands Antilles has been carried over into the Aruba Penal Code, and, if so, to indicate any legislative measures contemplated or taken with a view to giving effect to the decision to withdraw the reservation on the civil servants’ right to strike in Aruba, thus aligning the national legislation with the Convention.