Definitive Report - Report No 1, 1952

Case No 37 (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) - Complaint date: 13-SEP-51 - Closed

A. A. The complainants' allegations

• Analysis of the Complaint
  93. 93 Mr. P. S. Goldson, Secretary-General of the British Honduras General Workers' Union, writing on behalf of that organisation, addressed to the Director-General a letter dated 13 September 1951, requesting the assistance of the I.L.O in bringing democracy to British Honduras. In particular he alleges that the Belize City Council, elected in November 1950 for a period of three years, has been dissolved by the Governor of British Honduras.
  94. 94 The complaint states that the Governor gave the following reasons to justify the taking of this step:
      • (a) The Majority Counsellors, having before them a resolution that the portrait of the King of Great Britain be hung on the walls of the city hall, adopted an amendment providing that the resolution be not considered until the currency of the country was restored to its former and traditional value, until import controls were abolished, until the Conventions of the International Labour Organisation were extended to the country, until the " green curtain " cutting off workers from natural association with their fellow citizens was lifted, and until a democratic Constitution liberated the people from colonial rule.
      • (b) The Majority Counsellors showed an intention not to send the usual Loyalty Address to the King on the National Day and expressed a desire to give a report on the conditions and plans of the city to the people instead.
  95. 95 It is stated that the Governor replaced the elected counsellors by persons officially nominated by himself.
  96. 96 The authors of the complaint add that the Legislative Council, whose term of office should have ended last dune, has had its life extended for a further period of two years despite the protest of the people.
  97. 97 It is stated that the protest has been sent to the Government.
  98. 98 The Director-General has referred this case to the Committee for its opinion before communicating it to the Government of the United Kingdom.
  99. 99 The Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947, has been ratified by the United Kingdom in respect of British Honduras.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 100. The Committee does not consider that the communication can be considered as a complaint within the meaning of the procedure governing the Fact-Finding and Conciliation Commission on Freedom of Association. The authors of the complaint simply request the assistance of the I.L.O in bringing democracy to British Honduras. It is only indirectly, and not in very clear terms, that they refer to any fact which might if proved be deemed to be an infringement of freedom of association. In the resolution adopted by the city council in question, an allusion is made to the " green curtain " which is said to prevent the natural association of workers with their compatriots. But, whatever interpretation may be applied to this term (green curtain) the actual subject of the request is not an alleged violation of trade union rights but the alleged dissolution of the city council, a purely political measure.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 101. For these reasons, it does not appear necessary to bring the communication to the notice of the Government concerned.
2. 102. The Committee also recommends that certain parts of two other cases-Ceylon (Case 34) and United Kingdom (Cyprus) (Case 38)-should be dismissed forthwith on the ground that they are so purely political in character that it is undesirable to pursue them further by means of the procedure for the consideration of allegations concerning the infringements of trade union rights, while reserving other aspects of these cases for further consideration when the Governments concerned have had an opportunity to communicate their preliminary observations concerning them. Both of these cases were submitted to the Committee for its opinion by the Director-General prior to their being communicated to the Governments concerned.