Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144) - Costa Rica (Ratification: 1981)

The Committee notes the observations of the Confederation of Workers Rerum Novarum (CTRN), the Costa Rican Workers’ Movement Confederation (CMTC) and Juanito Mora Porras Trade Union Federation (CSJMP), received on 24 September 2018. The Committee notes the Government’s response to those observations, received on 1 November 2018. It also notes the Government’s response to the observations of the CTRN of 2017, received on 3 May and 31 July 2018.

Article 1 of the Convention. Representative organizations. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the observations of the CTRN, in which it noted that the most representative workers’ organizations, trade union confederations (third-level trade union organizations representing manual and intellectual workers from various sectors) were not represented in the High Labour Council. In this respect, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the measures taken, particularly concerning the selection criteria, to ensure that the consultations required by the Convention are held with the “most representative organizations” of employers and workers, indicating the criteria used for determining representativeness. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, as a result of ILO technical assistance, on 27 March 2017, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security issued an advisory notice, urging “third-level employers’ and workers’ organizations, duly registered or recognized at the national level” to nominate and accredit with the Ministry representatives so that the members of both partners are appointed to the High Labour Council. The Committee notes with interest that, once that information was received by the social partners, Decision No. 12-2017-MTSS was published in Official Gazette No. 164 of 30 August 2017, appointing the representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations to the High Labour Council. In its report, the Government provided a list of the selected employers’ and workers’ representatives, which includes members from trade union confederations.

Article 5(1). Effective tripartite consultations. In response to its previous comments, the Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government on the consultations held with the social partners during the reporting period. The Committee observes that these consultations were held on replies to questionnaires concerning items on the agenda of the International Labour Conference, the submission of Conventions and Recommendations in accordance with article 19 of the ILO Constitution, the re-examination of unratified Conventions and Recommendations that have not yet been given effect, as well as proposals for the abrogation and withdrawal of Conventions and Recommendations. Concerning the consultations on reports on ratified Conventions, the Government indicates that, since 2013, a consultation process has been conducted over a longer period, to ensure that the social partners participate in the preparation of the reports. In particular, the Government indicates that, under the new process, initial drafts of reports are shared sufficiently in advance for the social partners to send their comments for subsequent inclusion in the final reports which are sent to the Office by 1 September. The Committee notes that, according to the reporting schedule, the preliminary reports on ratified Conventions were communicated to the social partners before 1 September (3 August 2016, 4 August 2017 and 27 July 2018), while the final draft reports, which include the observations made by the social partners during the process, were communicated later (31 August 2016, 12 September 2017 and 2 October 2018). The Committee also notes that the workers’ organizations, the CTRN, CMTC and CSJMP, consider that the Government is still not providing the reports to the social partners. Finally, the Government refers to various tripartite consultation processes at the national level on matters including the development and implementation of a Comprehensive Strategy for the Transition to the Formal Economy in Costa Rica, in compliance with the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015 (No. 204). The Committee requests the Government to continue providing detailed up-to-date information indicating the specific content, frequency and outcome of the tripartite consultations held on all matters relating to international labour standards covered by Article 5(1) of the Convention. In light of the observations of the CTRN, CMTC and CSJMP, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the consultations held with the social partners on how the functioning of the procedures required by the Convention could be improved.