Definitive Report - Report No 36, 1960

Case No 178 (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) - Complaint date: 20-APR-58 - Closed

1. 37. The complaint of the Aden Trade Union Congress is contained in four communications dated respectively 20 April, 21 May, 21 October and 16 November 1958. This complaint is supported by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions by a communication addressed to the I.L.O on 13 June 1958. By a communication dated 6 February 1959 the Government of the United Kingdom forwarded its observations on the above complaints.
2. 38. The International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions presented its complaint in two communications dated 30 November and 30 December 1958, copies of which were transmitted to the Government of the United Kingdom on 9 January 1959. In its communication dated 6 February 1959 the Government stated that its observations on this complaint would be forwarded as soon as possible.
3. 39. At its 21st Session (February 1959) the Committee formulated recommendations to the Governing Body with respect to various allegations made by the Aden Trade Union Congress and the I.C.F.T.U.-namely, those relating to gatherings and demonstrations, to the registration of trade unions, to police interference, to a trade union newspaper, to the Essential Services Ordinance and to picketing-these being contained in the 33rd Report of the Committee which has still to be considered by the Governing Body. In the following pages consideration is given only to the remaining allegations, mainly contained in the complaint of the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, in respect of which the Government forwarded its observations on 13 May 1959.
4. 40. The United Kingdom has ratified the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84), 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) and has declared them to be applicable, without modification, to Aden.

A. A. The complainants' allegations

• Allegations relating to Deportations
  41. 41 It is alleged by the Aden T.U.C, in a telegram dated 16 November 1958, that the authorities had deported 250 workers and that employers were declaring workers redundant. The Government confined itself, in its reply dated 6 February 1959, to a statement that the deportations were in no way connected with the question of trade union membership.
  42. 42 At its 21st Session (February 1959) the Committee, while recognising that the complainant made no allegation as to the reasons for the deportations in question and submitted no evidence to show that they were related to the exercise of trade union rights, declared that it would appreciate it if the Government would furnish further information concerning the nature of the measures of deportation adopted, in order to enable it to form an opinion as to whether any question concerning trade union rights might be involved. The Director-General informed the Government of the Committee's wish by a letter dated 11 March 1959, to which the Government replied on 13 May 1959.
  43. 43 The Government now gives the text of a statement on the subject made in the Aden Legislative Council by the Attorney-General on 16 February 1959. The power of deportation exists, according to this statement, in respect of persons not born or naturalised in Aden who have no visible means of support, or are undesirables or are prohibited immigrants. After the disturbances in May and June 1958 all undesirable persons who might have constituted a danger to security were deported. After the disturbances in late October and early November 1958 a large number of homeless and unemployed who had been concerned with rioting and looting or who might have taken advantage of the state of unrest which prevailed were deported. Two hundred and ninety-nine deportation orders were made, of which 15 were revoked.
  44. 44 In several cases, the Committee has taken the view that the expulsion of aliens is a matter within the national discretion. In the present case, moreover, while the complainant adduces no evidence to show that the deportations were related to the exercise of trade union rights, the Government gives specific reasons for such deportations which do not appear to be connected with the exercise of such rights. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body to decide that this aspect of the case does not call for further examination.
• Allegations relating to a B.B.C. Broadcast
  45. 45 It is alleged by the Aden T.U.C that it was announced in a London B.B.C. Arabic Section broadcast on 19 April 1958 that two warships and British troop reinforcements had arrived in Aden on 18 April 1958 and would stand by until the threat of the general strike was over. This caused " a very serious psychological reaction " which could endanger the solidarity of the workers.
  46. 46 In its communication dated 13 May 1959 the Government declares that it has no responsibility for the transmission and contents of B.B.C news broadcasts.
  47. 47 The Committee considers that there is no evidence to show either that the broadcast in question had any direct connection with the exercise of trade union rights or that the Government was in any way responsible for a broadcast by an independent corporation. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body to decide that this allegation does not call for further examination.
• Allegations relating to the Turning Back of an Aden T.U.C. Delegation
  48. 48 It is alleged by the Aden T.U.C that barbed wire was set up on the main road to stop the procession of small cars accompanying an Aden T.U.C delegation to government headquarters and that the police ordered them to return to the T.U.C premises, this incident being witnessed by the I.C.F.T.U representative in Aden.
  49. 49 The Government declares, in its communication dated 13 May 1959, that it regards this matter as covered by the observations previously made on the allegations relating to gatherings and demonstrations, which were examined by the Committee in paragraphs 42 to 46 of its 33rd Report.
  50. 50 It appears to the Committee that these allegations relate simply to one more example of a procession which is not in principle distinguishable from the allegations relating to gatherings and demonstrations which it examined at its 21st Session (February 1959) and concerning which it formulated conclusions and recommendations in paragraphs 45 and 46 of its 33rd Report. The Committee therefore recommends the Governing Body to decide that the present allegations do not call for further examination.
• Allegations relating to the Government's Immigration Policy and to the Strike of 25 April 1958
  51. 51 In its complaint dated 30 December 1958 the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions comments at some length on the economic policy applied in Aden. According to the complainant unrest has been caused by the policy applied with respect to the immigration of foreign labour, the Government disregarding developments in the local labour market, so that local skilled and semi-skilled labour is not used and unemployment is increasing. For these reasons the Aden T.U.C representatives on the Immigration Panel withdrew two years ago. It is alleged that the governmental administration has hampered the Aden T.U.C in its efforts to improve the situation and to solve some problems through the development of good industrial relations. The complainant sums up the Aden T.U.C's case by stating that the T.U.C recognises the need for highly qualified experts in Aden but that these experts should promote local skills. It is alleged that it was the Governor's disregard for the T.U.C's representations on these matters, coupled with various other administrative shortcomings and discriminatory measures-not all of which, the complainant admits, are matters within the competence of the Committee-that led to the calling of a general strike on 25 April 1958.
  52. 52 In support of this last thesis the complainant furnishes certain texts. The first is a bulletin or manifesto issued by the Aden T.U.C to the workers and to its affiliates on the occasion of its first annual conference on 1 November 1957. This document declares the support of the Aden T.U.C for certain unions engaged in disputes and then sets forth its aims and demands, especially with regard to immigrant labour and the general employment policy of the Government. A second document, later but undated, issued by the Aden T.U.C analyses the reasons for the general strike of 25 April 1958. This document reviews the immigration policy of the Government which, it is alleged, has brought unemployment and hardship to Aden and increased the price of basic foodstuffs. It then goes on to explain the representations which had been made by the Aden T.U.C to the Government in its efforts to defend the economic interests of the workers-demands that experts coming to Aden should train local workers, that immigration should not be allowed in order to fill posts for clerks, typists, cooks, barbers, fitters, electricians, etc., when Aden itself, with its Technical Institute and Commercial Institute, produces people to perform these jobs, that proper price controls should be instituted and that a tripartitely administered unemployment bureau should be set up. It is contended that it was the dissatisfaction aroused by the complete rejection of these demands that caused the strike of 25 April 1958.
  53. 53 It is alleged by the Aden T.U.C that, following the peaceful 24-hour strike on 25 April 1958, which was observed by all affiliated unions, members of the teachers' union were threatened in circulars issued by the Director of Education and, in the case of teachers who took part in the strike, the decision was taken to withhold their increments for 12 months and to withdraw a month's bonus payment, while an assistant headmaster was down-graded. It is alleged that the Labour Commissioner interviewed executive members of the unions of workers of the port trust, posts and telephones, public works and municipal and electricity services, in order to deter them from participating in the general strike. The complainant produces a purported copy of a letter addressed by the Public Works Department to an overseer employed by the water authority who had taken part in the strike informing him that he would forfeit one day's pay and lose any increment falling due within the next 12 months.
  54. 54 The International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions alleges that, after the strike on 25 April 1958, 60 teachers who took part in the strike were reprimanded and deprived of their annual increments and quarterly allowances.
  55. 55 The Government declares that in so far as the allegations consist in criticism of its immigration policy they have no connection with freedom of association or the protection of the right to organise and that, for this reason, it has no observations to make thereon. With respect to the allegations as to victimisation, the Government declares that teachers had been advised not to take part in the strike, which was called in protest against the Government's immigration policy and did not arise out of a trade dispute.
  56. 56 In a number of cases' the Committee has pointed out that the right to strike is generally accorded to workers and their organisations as an integral part of their right to defend their collective economic and social interests. However, it has rejected allegations relating to strikes by reason of their non-occupational character or where they have been designed to coerce a government with respect to a political matter. The Committee considers that, as the strike in the present case, even though in support of economic interests, was directed against the Government's policy and was not apparently " in furtherance of a trade dispute " between workers and employers, it should follow its previous practice of not entertaining allegations regarding strikes of this kind and disciplinary measures taken against persons who participate in such strikes, and it therefore recommends the Governing Body to decide that these allegations do not call for further examination.
  57. 57 At the same time it is the essential point in these allegations that the strike was called by the trade unions in protest against aspects of the Government's economic policy which, in the view of the trade unions, cut at the very roots of the economic interests of their members. According to the complainants the immigration policy of the Government resulted in the labour market being swamped by imported labour, the posts which could have been filled by members of the Aden trade unions being given to aliens, with the result that widespread unemployment, hardship and dissatisfaction was caused among such members. Consistently, according to the complainants, the Government has refused to have any discussions with the Aden T.U.C on these matters and has rejected all its representations, the rejection of its latest detailed submissions having been the direct and immediate cause of the strike on 25 April 1958. The Government makes no answer to any of the points alleged, simply stating that the matter is not related to freedom of association and does not therefore call for any observations. In these circumstances, while emphasising the importance which it attaches to the taking of all practicable measures to consult and associate the representatives of organisations of employers and workers in the establishment and working of arrangements for the protection of workers and the application of labour legislation, in accordance with Article 4 of the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947, the Committee recognises that the question does not directly involve an infringement of trade union rights.
• Allegations relating to Proceedings in Respect to an Article in a Trade Union Newspaper
  58. 58 It is alleged by the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions that part of the Aden T.U.C's campaign in support of the policies that it advocates was to promote a publicity campaign. The Vice-President of the T.U.C, Mr. A. K. Soliman, and a member of its Executive, Mr. M. Salem, published an article on 17 September 1958 in the T.U.C weekly (Al-Amel). Messrs. Soliman and Salem were respectively chief editor and proprietor of the printing press which produced the newspaper. A translation of the article is given by the complainants. It is entitled " Bribery in Administrations " and, after stating that business in the municipality, the immigration office, customs, the port " and the courts " is " not concluded in a normal way ", goes on to describe the various forms of bribery alleged to prevail in Aden and to tell the citizen what he should do about it. Messrs. Soliman and Salem were charged with contempt of court and, on 31 October 1958, were each sentenced to three months' imprisonment, although, the complainant contends, their article referred not to the judicial authority but only to the administrative aspect of the courts. The news of the decision gave rise to general disturbances, violence and bloodshed. The same day the Aden T.U.C called for a general strike, but the general security position, which " ran out of hand ", and the military's " cruel actions ", according to the complainants, led to the strike being called off on 2 November.
  59. 59 The Government makes no direct comments on these allegations but furnishes a copy of the judgment of the Chief Justice of Aden in the case.
  60. 60 The judgment makes it clear that, in the view of the court, the defendants were guilty of the offence of contempt of court because, firstly, the article in the newspaper amounted to a charge that the courts were corrupt, and, secondly, a further article, referring to the general strike of 1 November 1958, incited persons to support the strike in order to intimidate the court.
  61. 61 In these circumstances the Committee considers that it has clear evidence before it to show that the proceedings were directly related to a common law offence and had no connection with the exercise of trade union rights. The Committee therefore recommends the Governing Body to decide that this aspect of the case does not call for further examination.
• Allegations relating to the Prosecution of the Assistant Secretary-General of the Aden T.U.C.
  62. 62 It is alleged by the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions that the decision to end the strike on 2 November 1958 was taken after a meeting at which the Governor-General promised an Aden T.U.C delegation that there would be no reprisals against its members. However, it is alleged, seven teachers were dismissed and the Assistant Secretary-General of the T.U.C, Mr. Hanbala, was arrested 50 yards from the T.U.C offices and kept in custody without trial for three weeks. Then he was sentenced by the Divisional Court to four years' imprisonment for instigating riots and disorder. The complainant contends that the police witnesses all made conflicting statements, that the court disregarded the alibi of the accused (proved by witnesses) and that in the 15 minutes which had elapsed between his leaving the court on 31 October and arriving outside the T.U.C offices four miles away he could not possibly have committed the offences with which he was charged.
  63. 63 The Government states that the dismissal of seven teachers was ordered because they absented themselves from work without any valid reason in order to participate in the strike on 1 November 1958. The Government denies that any undertaking as to non-reprisals or any other undertaking was ever given in consideration of a resumption of work. Finally, the Government states that the trial of the Assistant Secretary-General of the Aden T.U.C was entirely a judicial matter on which it is not appropriate for it to comment.
  64. 64 It is clear from the statements of the complaining organisation itself (see paragraph 58 above) that the strike of 1 November 1958 was not a strike in support of economic demands but was called in protest against the judgment of the court which found the editor and printer of the trade union newspaper guilty of contempt of court ; this is further confirmed by the judgment itself (see paragraph 60 above). The Committee therefore considers that no question as to the exercise of trade union rights was involved in the strike or in the measures taken against certain of the participants in it. As to the prosecution of the Assistant Secretary-General of the Aden T.U.C in respect of incidents arising in connection with the strike, the Government has furnished evidence to show that he was found guilty by the competent court, after proceedings attended by all the guarantees of due process of law, of the offence of instigating riots and disorder. In these circumstances the Committee considers that the complainants have not offered proof to show that his prosecution involved any infringement of the exercise of trade union rights. The Committee therefore recommends the Governing Body to decide that these allegations do not call for further examination.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 65. In all the circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to decide that the allegations relating to deportations, to a B.B.C broadcast, to the turning back of an Aden T.U.C delegation, to proceedings in respect of an article in a trade union newspaper and to the prosecution of the Assistant Secretary-General of the Aden T.U.C do not, for the reasons indicated in paragraphs 4144, 45-47, 48-50, 58-61 and 62-64 respectively, call for further examination;
   • (b) to decide, while emphasising the importance which the Governing Body attaches to the taking of all practicable measures to consult and associate the representatives of organisations of employers and workers in the establishment and working of arrangements for the protection of workers and the application of labour legislation, in accordance with Article 4 of the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947, which the Government has undertaken to apply without modification to Aden, that the allegations relating to the Government's immigration policy and to the strike of 25 April 1958 do not, for the reasons indicated in paragraphs 51 to 57 above, call for further examination.