Interim Report - Report No 95, 1967

Case No 494 (Sudan) - Complaint date: 20-AUG-66 - Closed

1. 291. When it examined this case at its session in November 1966 the Committee submitted its definitive conclusions to the Governing Body with regard to all the allegations, with the exception of those relating to the dismissal of the members of a workers' committee and the arrest of the President of the Post and Telegraph Workers' Union, concerning which it submitted an interim report in paragraphs 345 to 347 of its 93rd Report. The present report is confined to these outstanding allegations.
2. 292. Sudan has ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), but has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 293. In its complaint dated 20 August 1966 the World Federation of Trade Unions alleged that, in connection with a strike of employees of the posts and telegraphs called on 1 June 1966, the members of the workers' committee of the Post and Telegraph Workers' Union - Messrs. Mohamed Al Imen, Ramadan Ali Hussain, Athman Rahmat Alla, Mohamed Al-Rasan, Ahmed al Badaro, Yosef Mohamed and Ali Mohamed Boknait - were dismissed, and that the President of the union, Mr. Hassan Kesmel Seyed, was arrested.
2. 294. When the Committee examined the case at its meeting in November 1966 it had before it the observations furnished by the Government in a communication dated 12 October 1966. The Government stated that the dismissals in question were made by disciplinary boards and had nothing to do with the trade union activities of those concerned. Mr. Hassan Kesmel Seyed was detained by the police for 24 hours only, for a contravention of the emergency regulations in force at the time, for reasons stated by the Government to have nothing to do with his trade union activity.
3. 295. The Committee observed that, while the Government declared that the measures taken had no connection with trade union activity, the President of the Post and Telegraph Workers' Union was detained and seven named members of its committee were dismissed at or about the time when members of the union had been called out on strike. In these circumstances the Committee, as indicated in paragraph 347 of its 93rd Report, decided, before formulating its recommendations to the Governing Body on this aspect of the case, to request the Government to be good enough to furnish fuller information on the matters raised, including information as to the precise reasons why seven members of the union committee were dismissed and as to the specific nature of the contravention in respect of which the President of the union was detained by the police.
4. 296. This request for further information was brought to the notice of the Government by a letter dated 23 November 1966, to which the Government replied by a letter dated 15 January 1967.
5. 297. In its communication dated 15 January 1967 the Government states firstly that registration has now been granted to three workers' federations in the Sudan, including the Federation of Sudanese Trade Unions, which was previously alleged to have been threatened with dissolution. The Committee has already submitted its recommendations on those allegations to the Governing Body, but takes note with satisfaction of the further information now furnished by the Government.
6. 298. The Government goes on to state that the reason for the detention of the President of the Post and Telegraph Workers' Union, for a period of 24 hours, was that he had contravened the order declaring a state of emergency at the time. He had been addressing a big crowd of workers when such crowds and speeches were prohibited by the order, whatever their motives were. The Government states that the order applied to all citizens, whether workers or otherwise, and it was the duty of the security forces to ensure that it was not contravened by any person, and considers that, accordingly, the detention had nothing to do with trade union activities.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 299. The Committee observes that, according to the Government, the emergency legislation in force at the material time applied to public gatherings in general and not particularly to gatherings of workers or trade unionists. In these circumstances, bearing in mind also that the person concerned was released after a period of 24 hours, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to decide that it would be purposeless to pursue further its examination of the allegation relating to the detention of the President of the Post and Telegraph Workers' Union.
2. 300. There remains the question of the dismissal of the seven members of the committee of the Post and Telegraph Workers' Union. In its communication dated 15 January 1967 the Government states that the dismissals were effected by a Departmental Disciplinary Board formed in accordance with the Officials Discipline Ordinance, 1927, as amended in 1962. This Board had reviewed the service records of most of the employees of the Post and Telegraph Department, and the workers concerned were dismissed in accordance with its findings. The Government declares that the Board was formed because there had been so many complaints by the public against the Department's officials. Section 13 of the Ordinance empowers heads of departments to convene departmental boards for the trial of officials subordinate to them.
3. 301. The Committee recalls that when it considered, in paragraphs 342 to 344 of its 93rd Report, allegations that 93 women strikers were dismissed by the Post and Telegraph Administration following the strike for better pay and conditions called on 1 June 1966, the Government made the same observation that they had not been dismissed because of trade union activity but had been dismissed by boards of discipline, after an examination of their service records. If the Committee on that occasion recommended the Governing Body to decide that it would be purposeless to pursue further the examination of those allegations, it was only after it had had before it information from the Government to the effect that the Minister had ordered the reinstatement of all those concerned. The Committee would find it difficult to accept as a coincidence unrelated to trade union activity that heads of department should have decided, immediately after a strike, to convene disciplinary boards which, on the basis of their service records, ordered the dismissal not only of the 93 strikers but also of the seven members of their union committee. Bearing in mind further that the Government of the Sudan has assumed, under Article 1 of the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), the obligation to ensure that workers shall enjoy adequate protection against acts of anti-union discrimination in respect of their employment, the Committee, before making its recommendations on this aspect of the case to the Governing Body, requests the Government to state whether, in the interests of furthering better industrial relations, any consideration is being given to the possibility of the reinstatement of the seven persons concerned.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 302. In all the circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to decide that, for the reasons indicated in paragraph 299 above, it would be purposeless to pursue further the examination of the allegation relating to the detention of the President of the Post and Telegraph Workers' Union;
   • (b) to take note of the present interim report of the Committee with regard to the allegations relating to the dismissal of seven members of the committee of the said union, it being understood that the Committee will report further thereon to the Governing Body when it has received additional information which it has decided to request from the Government.