Definitive Report - Report No 13, 1954

Case No 98 (France) - Complaint date: 04-JAN-54 - Closed

1. 10. Two complaints relating to Tunisia were addressed to the I.L.O. The first, transmitted through the intermediary of the United Nations, is a letter dated 4 January 1954 from the Tunisian Workers' Union (U.S.T.T) ; the second consists of a telegram addressed directly to the I.L.O by the Tunisian General Federation of Trade Unions (U.G.T.T).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

• Complaint Presented by the Tunisian Workers' Union
  11. 11 The communication from the U.S.T.T transmits the text of a resolution adopted on 19 December 1953 by the workers and the various sections of the Tunisian population at a meeting called by that organisation and several other non-trade union organisations on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Vietnamese people decreed by the Third World Trade Union Congress.
• Complaint Presented by the Tunisian General Federation of Trade Unions
  12. 12 The telegram from the U.G.T.T protests against the prohibition by the French authorities of the May Day procession at Sfax.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

• Complaint Presented by the Tunisian Workers' Union
  13. 13 The Committee notes that, while the three last paragraphs of the resolution transmitted by the U.S.T.T concern the economic and social situation in Tunisia, one of them containing a demand for, among other things, respect for the right to organise, the essential parts of the resolution, nevertheless, are devoted to the problem of ending the war in Indo-China. The Committee considers that this complaint does not therefore relate to any specific instance of infringement of freedom of association and that, in these circumstances, there is no ground for any action to be taken on it.
• Complaint Presented by the Tunisian General Federation of Trade Unions
  14. 14 In Case No. 40 (France-Tunisia), the Committee was called upon to examine allegations relating, among other things, to the prohibition of public meetings held on the occasion of May Day. In this connection, in paragraph 485 of its Sixth Report, the Committee took note of the French Government's observations to the effect that " pursuant to the regulations relating to the state of siege, public meetings are subject to prior authorisation and may be prohibited ". However, considerable tolerance is exercised despite these restrictions. " But the ban on May Day processions was, in the interests of public order, essentially directed against demonstrations in public thoroughfares and in no way applied to trade union meetings held on trade union premises for the furtherance of their occupational interests." In paragraph 489 of the same report, the Committee, observing " that the general but temporary prohibition of public meetings was imposed solely in the interests of public order and did not affect trade union meetings in union premises ", considered that this allegation did not call for further examination by the Governing Body.
  15. 15 In the present case, it would appear from the telegram sent by the complaining organisation, which contains the word " procession ", that the prohibition related solely to a demonstration on the public highway and does not, therefore, appear to have been directed against trade union meetings held in trade union premises.

16. The Committee therefore considers that the complaint does not present any new element which would call for a re-examination of the question by the Committee and that, in these circumstances, there is no reason for any action to be taken.