Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Solomon Islands (Ratification: 2012)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Legislative matters. In its previous comments, the Committee drew the Government’s attention to a series of legal provisions which were not in conformity with the Convention and needed to be amended in order to:

• –make the Trade Unions Act (TUA) applicable to all workers irrespective of the nature of their contract, including independent and outsourced workers and workers without an employment contract, as well as to prison staff and fire services (section 2 et seq. of the TUA);
• –ensure that the fine imposable upon an employer who discriminates against a worker at the stage of recruitment for reasons of union membership or activities (section 60(3) of the TUA) is sufficiently dissuasive;
• –adopt provisions which: (i) provide adequate protection to workers, in particular to trade union officers and representatives, against anti-union discrimination in the course of employment, such as transfer, relocation and withdrawal of benefits; (ii) explicitly prohibit dismissal for reasons of trade union membership or activities; and (iii) set up rapid and impartial procedures as well as sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions against such acts; and
• –adopt provisions providing for full and adequate protection of workers’ and employers’ organizations against any acts of interference against each other, setting up rapid and impartial procedures as well as sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions against such acts.

The Committee notes with regret the Government’s lack of reply with respect to the issues highlighted in its previous comments. In the absence of further substantial information, the Committee firmly expects that the Government will take the necessary legislative measures, in consultation with the social partners, to bring the provisions of the TUA into full conformity with the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any measures taken in this regard.

In its previous comments, the Committee also requested the Government to provide further details on:

• –the role of labour inspection and other bodies empowered to examine complaints against anti-union discrimination and against allegations of interference of employers in workers’ organizations, especially concerning their accessibility, rapidity and independence;
• –the rule granting reversal of burden of proof for cases of anti-union discrimination other than dismissal;
• –the sanctions provided for in case of interference by employers in workers’ organizations and for anti-union discrimination unrelated to recruitment;
• –legislative provisions and all other measures whose objective is to regulate and promote collective voluntary negotiation among the social partners; the possible powers of public authorities in this regard, as well as the number of collective agreements concluded, specifying the sectors and the number of workers covered; and
• –legislative provisions and all other measures regulating the procedure for recognition of trade unions in collective bargaining, in particular the criteria for the designation of bargaining agents, threshold of representativity required, type and duration of recognition procedure, rights of minority unions, the possibility of forming groups of trade unions for bargaining purposes, and collective bargaining rights of employers’ organizations, including the role, if any, of the Chamber of Commerce.

Regretting the absence of any new information in this regard, the Committee urges the Government to provide information on these matters.

Article 4. Collective bargaining in practice. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Solomon Islands Council of Trade Unions has signed almost 60 collective agreements with 60 employers across the country and that those collective agreements only cover members, which must consist of 50 per cent or more of the total workers. While taking due note of this information, the Committee recalls that a threshold of 50 per cent or more of the total workers to be able to bargain collectively, can be excessive. The Committee refers to its request above with regard to the procedure for recognition of trade unions and requests the Government to take into consideration that, when the threshold is not reached, the existing unions should be given the possibility, jointly or separately, to bargain collectively, at least on behalf of their own members.

The Committee further requests the Government to: (i) provide information on the measures taken to promote collective bargaining across the different sectors of the economy; and (ii) continue providing information on the number of collective agreements concluded and in force, the sectors concerned, and the number of workers covered by these agreements.