Interim Report - Report No 31, 1960

Case No 161 (France) - Complaint date: 14-MAR-57 - Closed

1. 14. In two communications dated 14 March and 7 October 1957 originating from the World Federation of Trade Unions and the Cameroons General Confederation of Labour respectively, these organisations submitted complaints to the I.L.O containing allegations of infringements of the exercise of trade union rights in the Cameroons.
2. 15. By two communications dated 25 March and 21 October 1957 respectively, the World Federation of Trade Unions and the Cameroons General Confederation of Labour were informed of their right to furnish further information in substantiation of their complaints within a period of one month. Neither organisation availed itself of this right.
3. 16. The complaints of the World Federation of Trade Unions and the Cameroons General Confederation of Labour were communicated to the French Government, for its observations, by two letters dated 25 March and 18 October 1957 respectively.
4. 17. In two communications dated 7 May and 30 October 1957, the French Government made observations on the points raised in the complaints. At its 19th Session (Geneva, February 1958) the Committee requested the Director-General to obtain further information from the French Government before it formulated its recommendations to the Governing Body and decided that it would report further on the case when this information had been received. The Director-General informed the Government of the Committee's decision by a letter dated 17 March 1958. The Government replied by a letter dated 21 July 1958.
5. 18. France has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98). The Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) has been declared applicable without modification to the Cameroons.

A. A. The complainants' allegations

• Allegations relating to Measures Taken against Militant Trade Unionists and Workers
  19. 19 The complainants allege that measures have been taken against many militant trade unionists and workers because of their political opinions or their trade union membership (hundreds of workers and trade union militants are stated to have been imprisoned after having been tortured, others having been murdered and their homes burnt down) and that in an atmosphere such as this the exercise of trade union rights has become impossible. The Government contends on the contrary that the exercise of trade union rights is scrupulously respected by the territorial authorities and that such measures as have, in fact, been taken against certain persons were dictated not by their trade union activities or membership but by the subversive activities engaged in by them.
  20. 20 In support of its general allegations the W.F.T.U cites a number of specific cases. At Edéa Hob Lock Thomas, a member of the Sanaga-Maritime Regional Federation of Trade Unions of the Cameroons General Confederation of Labour is said to have been killed. Other persons alleged to have fallen under French bullets near Edéa are said to include several workers from the Alucam and Enalcam concerns. In its reply the Government declares that Hob Lock Thomas was killed at Edéa during an attack launched by adherents of the Union of the Peoples of the Cameroons (U.P.C.) on the bridge at Ekété and that the fighting resulted in several casualties, both among the forces of law and order and among the attackers, and that the latter included workers from the Alucam and Enalcam concerns.
  21. 21 According to the complainants, Tonye Kanga John, a schoolteacher and trade union leader, was alleged to have been arrested and tortured. The Government explains that the man in question was arrested on 2 January 1957 on a charge of reconstituting a dissolved league and was handed over to the prosecuting authorities at Edéa. Further to a complaint by Tonye Kanga regarding alleged torture the French High Commissioner ordered an inquiry which, after a medical examination, showed that the person in question had not suffered any torture. The Government states that Tonye Kanga even sent a letter to the High Commissioner thanking him for the promptness shown in dealing with his case.
  22. 22 The complainants allege that Mbilla Marcus, the secretary of the Agricultural Workers Federation, was imprisoned. The Government admits that the person in question was arrested on 20 December 1956 ; it explains that he was sentenced to eight months' imprisonment for reconstituting dissolved leagues by the Edéa Court of Summary Jurisdiction.
  23. 23 The complainants also allege the murder of Mr. Um Mayi Daniel, a trade union leader. The Government confirms his death but states that he was murdered by members of the U.P.C during the night of 26 to 27 December 1957. The victim had been a notorious member of the U.P.C and the reason for his murder, according to the Government, lay in the fact that he refused to renew his membership card after this movement had been dissolved.
  24. 24 According to the complainants, the home of Mandeng Pierre, a member of the Administrative Committee of the Cameroons General Confederation of Labour, was set on fire. The Government states that the administration has no information concerning the alleged burning of the home of Mandeng, a person who it says is entirely unknown to it.
  25. 25 Lastly, the complainants allege, without giving names, that the secretary-typist of the Cameroons General Confederation of Labour in Douala has been imprisoned, and further that six organised farmworkers at Bafing have been imprisoned at the request of a ruling chief. The Government does not comment on the latter allegations, but states that investigations are still in progress, the results of which will be communicated when available.
  26. 26 The Committee notes that, while the statements of the complainant contain certain details, they do not establish any clear relationship of cause and effect between the trade union status and activities of the persons referred to in the complaints and the acts for which the Government is criticised, whereas they are met by the Government with specific and detailed replies. From these replies it is fairly clear that the action taken against the persons mentioned by name in the W.F.T.U complaint and the circumstances leading to the death of one of them did not arise out of the trade union membership or the trade union activities of the persons concerned but rather were attributable to other activities of a rebellious and subversive nature, the exact description of which is given by the Government (reconstitution of dissolved leagues, armed attack on a bridge, acts of revenge of a political nature). Moreover, it would appear that the persons arrested enjoyed the safeguards of due process of law.
  27. 27 In these circumstances, the Committee considers, with regard to the cases cited by name by the complainant, that the latter has not furnished evidence to show that there has been any infringement of freedom of association in this particular case and therefore recommends the Governing Body to decide that this aspect of the case does not call for further examination.
  28. 28 As regards the other arrests mentioned by the complainant, but for which no names are given, the Committee considers that when complainants formulate in general terms allegations that persons have been arrested, but do not give their names or other sufficiently precise information, it would be unreasonable to ask the governments concerned to make investigations which, in view of the very vague nature of the allegations, would occasion considerable difficulty. The Committee therefore recommends the Governing Body to decide that this aspect of the case does not call for further examination.
• Allegations relating to Intervention in Trade Union Meetings by the Authorities
  29. 29 The complainants allege in general terms that it is impossible to hold a public trade union meeting in the Cameroons without interference from the police. To this the Government replies that the frequency of trade union meetings in the Cameroons is enough in itself to prove this assertion untrue, if any proof were necessary. The Government, however, refrains from replying to the specific allegation by the W.F.T.U that a police official acting under orders from his superiors attended the meeting of the Administrative Committee of the Cameroons General Confederation of Labour on 12 January 1957 at Douala in order "to hear what the trade union leaders had got to say ".
  30. 30 In view of the fact that the complainants have here made a specific allegation, the Committee considers it appropriate to request the French Government to submit observations on this particular aspect of the case and to adjourn consideration of this part of the complaint pending receipt of such observations.
• Allegations relating to a Refusal to Bargain with the Cameroons General Confederation of Labour
  31. 31 The Cameroons General Confederation of Labour alleges that the firm of R. Guerpillon and Co., of Douala, has refused to have any dealings with it and attaches in support of this allegation a copy of a letter from the company from which it appears that this is indeed the case. According to the complainant, this attitude is contrary to the letter and to the spirit of Conventions Nos. 87 and 98, both ratified by France, and also to section 4 of the Overseas Territories Labour Code, which lays down the right of all workers and employers to belong to organisations of their own choosing. The complaining organisation asks the I.L.O to intervene in order that the injustice referred to by the C.G.C.L may be redressed.
  32. 32 In its reply the Government states that inquiries made by the Labour Inspectorate reveal that in 1955, 1956 and 1957 workers on lists other than those presented by the C.G.C.L were elected as delegates by the personnel. The Government points out that in those three years the staff of the undertaking in respect of which complaint is made elected as delegates candidates bearing the labels " Free ", " Independent " and " Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of the Cameroons ". The Government adds that the elections were conducted in a proper and regular manner and that no objections were lodged in connection with them-not even by the Cameroons General Confederation of Labour.
  33. 33 A refusal by an employer to bargain with a particular union-which appears to be the matter now in issue-has not been regarded by the Committee, in the past, as an infringement of freedom of association appropriate for consideration by the Committee ; it has adopted this attitude on the basis of the principle that collective - bargaining must, if it is to remain effective, assume a voluntary character and not entail recourse to measures of compulsion which would alter the voluntary nature of such bargaining.
  34. 34 In the present case, moreover, the Government points out that the staff delegates were chosen freely by the workers in the undertaking involved in the complaint and that these delegates were not those whose names were on the lists presented by the Cameroons General Confederation of Labour, the latter not having received the support of the workers in question.
  35. 35 In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body to decide that this aspect of the case does not call for further examination.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 36. In all the circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to decide that, for the reasons indicated in paragraphs 19 to 28 above, the allegations relating to measures taken against militant trade unionists and workers do not call for further examination ;
   • (b) to decide that, for the reasons indicated in paragraphs 31 to 35 above, the allegations relating to a refusal to bargain with the Cameroons General Confederation of Labour do not call for further examination ;
   • (c) to take note of the present interim report with respect to the allegations relating to intervention in trade union meetings by the authorities, it being understood that the Committee will report further thereon when it has received additional information from the French Government.