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

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

Article 2 of the Convention. Workers’ and employers’ right, without any distinction whatsoever, to establish organizations and join them without prior authorization. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that section 2 of the Labour Code excludes self-employed workers from its scope of application and requested the Government to indicate the legislative provisions that protect the right of self-employed workers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the exemptions set out in section 2 of the Labour Code are not an obstacle to the right of self employed workers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing. In light of the exclusions in section 2 of the Labour Code, the Committee once again requests that the Government indicate the legislative provisions that explicitly protect the right of self-employed workers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing.

In its previous comments, the Committee noted the possibility of creating enterprise-level trade union sections within occupational trade unions under section 18 of the Labour Code and had requested the Government to specify the legal provisions that permit the creation of enterprise-level trade unions outside of trade union sections. In the absence of a reply, the Committee reiterates its request.

Article 3. Workers’ right to freely choose their representatives and freely organize their activities. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that under the terms of section 381 of the Labour Code, during a strike an obligatory minimum service is required for certain enterprises owing to their social utility or their distinctive nature, and that the list of enterprises concerned and the conditions for implementing the minimum service are determined by order of the Ministry of Labour after consultation with the Standing National Labour Council (CNPT). The Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that any disagreement on the determination of a minimum service should be resolved not by the government authorities but by a joint or independent body which has the confidence of the parties and to provide a copy of the list of enterprises concerned. The Committee notes the Government’s indications that it has set up a committee to prepare the implementing texts of the Labour Code, which works on the drafts relating to section 381 and submits them for assessment by the CNPT, a tripartite body. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress achieved in the adoption of the drafts related to section 381 of the Labour Code. To this end, the Committee recalls the importance of prior consultation with the employers’ and workers’ organizations during the preparation of legislative provisions affecting their interests. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide a list of enterprises determined by the ministerial order under section 381 of the Code.

Furthermore, the Committee recalls that it has repeatedly asked the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 11 of Order No. 81/028 on the Government’s power of requisitioning during strikes where required in the general interest, so as to limit the power of requisitioning to cases where the right to strike may be restricted or even prohibited, namely: in the public service for public servants exercising authority in the name of the State, in essential services in the strict sense of the term or in an acute national crisis. While noting the Government’s indication that it takes this request into account, the Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position to report, in the near future, on the specific progress made, in prior consultation with the social partners, with regard to the amendment of the above provision in order to align Order No. 81/028 with the Convention.