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

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Honduras (Ratification: 1956)

The Committee notes the observations of the General Confederation of Workers (CGT) and the Confederation of Workers of Honduras (CTH), transmitted with the Government’s report, which deal with issues examined by the Committee in this observation. It also notes the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), received on 1 September 2017, which relate to issues examined by the Committee in this observation and contain, in particular, new allegations of anti-union murders and violence, as well as the Government’s comments thereon. The Committee also notes the observations of the Honduran National Business Council (COHEP), received on 22 August 2017, on issues examined by the Committee in this observation, as well as the Government’s reply thereon.

Trade union rights and civil liberties. In its previous comments, the Committee expressed deep concern at the large number of anti-union crimes, including murders and death threats, committed between 2010 and 2014. It asked the Government to provide information on the status of the relevant investigations and criminal proceedings. In this respect, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that: (i) the murders of Ms Sonia Landaverde Miranda and Messrs Alfredo Misael Ávila Castellanos and Evelio Posadas Velásquez are under investigation; (ii) the criminal proceedings regarding the murder of Juana Suyapa Bustillo are in the evidence-gathering phase; and (iii) the public prosecutor requested the competent authorities on 6 May 2014 to issue an arrest warrant for the person suspected of murdering Ms Alma Yaneth Díaz Ortega and Ms Uva Erlinda Castellanos Vigil. The Committee urges the Government to provide information on the outcome of the investigations in the abovementioned cases of murder, as well as on any judgment handed down in the case of murder of Alma Yaneth Díaz Ortega and Uva Erlinda Castellanos Vigil.

The Committee notes with concern that the Government has not provided any information on either the investigations carried out or the judgments handed down in relation to the murders of trade unionists Messrs Maribel Sánchez, Fredis Omar Rodríguez and Claudia Larissa Brizuela, all of which occurred between 2010 and 2014. The Committee urges the Government to provide this information as soon as possible.

With regard to the death of four teachers reported by Education International (EI) in 2014, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that: (i) in the case of Mr Roger Abraham Vallejo, the investigation is ongoing; (ii) there is no new information regarding the case of Martín Florencio and Félix Murillo López; and (iii) in the case of Ilse Ivania Velásquez Rodríguez (examined by the Committee on Freedom of Association in the context of Case No. 3032), her death was accidental and a person has been convicted of manslaughter. With respect to the threats reported by Mr Víctor Crespo, the Government reports that it has not been able to verify the alleged crime. In relation to the death of Mr Manuel Crespo, father of Mr Víctor Crespo, the Government indicates that it is a case of manslaughter and that it has been established that there is no link to the alleged threats. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that the Public Prosecutor’s Office has not received any complaints or opened any cases relating to the death threats against the leaders of the Trade Union Association of Dockworkers (SGTM), referred to in the 2014 observations of the ITUC. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government and is forwarding the information relating to the death of Ilse Ivania Velásquez Rodríguez to the Committee on Freedom of Association. It urges the Government to provide information on the outcome of the investigations in the cases of murder of Roger Abraham Vallejo, Martín Florencio and Félix Murillo López.

The Committee notes with regret the new allegations made by the ITUC, indicating that Messrs José Ángel Flores and Silmer Dionisios George, the President and a member, respectively, of the Unified Campesino Movement (MUCA), affiliated with the CUTH, were murdered on 18 October 2016. The Committee notes that the ITUC adds that both persons were under police protection and that the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) had granted protection measures to José Ángel Flores in May 2014. The Committee notes that the ITUC also reports: (i) the kidnapping, on 15 April 2017, of Mr Moisés Sánchez, a leader of the Union of Agro-Food and Allied Industry Workers; (ii) death threats, made in 2016, against Mr Miguel López, a trade union leader in the public electricity enterprise; and (iii) in 2016 and early 2017, death threats against Mr Nelson Núñez and Ms Patricia Riera, trade union leaders in a multinational enterprise in the agro industrial sector. The Committee notes the Government’s reply indicating that two persons have been charged with the murders of Messrs José Ángel Flores and Silmer Dionisios George and that the complaint concerning Mr Moisés Sánchez and his brother, Mr Hermes Misael Sánchez, has been forwarded to the body responsible for police investigations. The Committee deeply deplores the allegations of new murders, kidnappings and death threats against members of the trade union movement. The Committee requests the Government to provide, without delay, detailed information on the cases of Messrs Miguel López, Nelson Núñez and Ms Patricia Riera. The Committee also requests the Government to continue providing information on any new developments in relation to the cases of Messrs José Ángel Flores, Silmer Dionisios George, Moisés Sánchez and Hermes Misael Sánchez. The Committee notes that the United Nations Human Rights Committee, in its concluding observations on Honduras adopted on 24 July 2017 (see CCPR/C/SR.3378 and 3379), expressed its extreme concern at the acts of violence committed against, inter alia, the country’s trade unionists in a context of impunity. The Committee expresses its deep concern at these crimes and is bound once again to draw the Government’s attention to the principle that the rights of workers’ and employers’ organizations can only be exercised in a climate that is free from violence, pressure and threats, in which human rights are fully respected, and that it is the responsibility of the Government to ensure that these principles are respected. Recalling that the absence of convictions against those guilty of crimes against trade union officers and members creates, in practice, a situation of impunity, which reinforces the climate of violence and insecurity, and which is extremely damaging to the exercise of trade union rights, the Committee firmly urges the Government to take without delay all the necessary measures to ensure that the investigations into the murders are carried out promptly in order to determine the persons responsible and to punish those guilty of these crimes. Moreover, the Committee firmly urges the Government to take the necessary measures to provide prompt and effective protection to all trade union leaders and members who are at risk and therefore to increase all the necessary material and human resources to ensure that the lives and physical integrity of persons are effectively guaranteed and to prevent further cases of trade union murders and violence. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on all the measures taken in this respect.

Articles 2 et seq. of the Convention relating to the establishment, autonomy and activities of trade unions. The Committee recalls that it has been emphasizing for many years the need to amend certain sections of the Labour Code to bring them into conformity with the Convention, namely:

• (a) the exclusion from the rights and guarantees of the Convention of workers in agricultural and stock-raising enterprises which do not permanently employ more than ten workers (section 2(1));
• (b) the prohibition of more than one trade union in a single enterprise (section 472);
• (c) the requirement of more than 30 workers to establish a trade union (section 475);
• (d) the requirement that the officers of a trade union must be of Honduran nationality (sections 510(a) and 541(a)), be engaged in the corresponding activity (sections 510(c) and 541(c)) and be able to read and write (sections 510(d) and 541(d));
• (e) the prohibition on strikes called by federations and confederations (section 537);
• (f) the requirement of a two-thirds majority of the votes of the total membership of the trade union organization in order to call a strike (sections 495 and 563);
• (g) the authority of the competent ministry to end disputes in oil industry services (section 555(2));
• (h) government authorization or a six-month period of notice for any suspension of work in public services that do not depend directly or indirectly on the State (section 558); and
• (i) the referral to compulsory arbitration, without the possibility of calling a strike for as long as the arbitration award is in force (two years), of collective disputes in public services that are not essential in the strict sense of the term (sections 554(2) and (7), 820 and 826).

In its previous comments, the Committee welcomed: (i) the preparation by the technical commission of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of a draft reform of 13 sections of the Labour Code, prepared with ILO support, to bring the Labour Code into conformity with the Convention; and (ii) the submission of this draft to the Economic and Social Council (CES) for discussion and approval. It also noted the roadmap prepared by the Council in 2014, which envisaged the submission and adoption, in September of that year, of the draft reform by the National Congress. Lastly, the Committee expressed the hope that the Government would promptly submit the draft reform to the National Congress so as to bring the national legislation fully into conformity with the Convention.

The Committee notes that COHEP indicates that employers and workers have not been invited to a tripartite discussion in the CES or in any other forum. The Committee also notes the Government’s reply to the observations of COHEP indicating that, while it recognizes that further progress has not been made since the draft reform was submitted to the CES in May 2014, in a communication dated April 2014, the CGT, CUTH and CTH expressed their reservations about the legislature examining possible reforms to the Labour Code, based on previous experiences and out of fear that such reforms would significantly prejudice labour rights in favour of big business. The Committee notes with regret that the progress made in 2014 has not been given effect in practice in relation to the discussion and adoption of a draft reform to bring the Labour Code into conformity with the Convention. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to take all the necessary measures, after consulting the representative employers’ and workers’ organizations, to submit as soon as possible to the National Congress a bill that takes into account the various comments made by the Committee for many years. The Committee firmly hopes that it will be able to observe tangible progress in the very near future.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee takes due note of the Government’s indication that legal personalities of 23 trade unions were recognized between 2014 and 2016. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on new registrations of trade unions.

[The Government is asked to supply full particulars to the Conference at its 107th Session and to reply in full to the present comments in 2018.]