Definitive Report - Report No 125, 1971

Case No 648 (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) - Complaint date: 05-NOV-70 - Closed

1. 40. The complaint of the Saint Vincent Workers' Union was contained in a communication dated 5 November 1970 addressed to the Director-General of the International Labour Office. The observations of the Government on the allegations contained in the complaint were received in a communication dated 16 March 1971.
2. 41. The Committee previously had this case before it at its 57th Session (February 1971), at which it decided to adjourn its examination of the case pending receipt of the observations of the Government.
3. 42. The Government of 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). The provisions of Conventions Nos. 84 and 98 have been declared by the Government to be applicable without modification to Saint Vincent, and the provisions of Convention No. 87 have been declared to be applicable with certain modifications in connection with Article 3 of the Convention (namely as regards trade union votes, voting by secret ballot and trade union funds).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 43. The complainants allege that an employee in the general clerical service of the Government of Saint Vincent, Eldwardo Lynch, was elected President of the Saint Vincent Workers' Union, whose headquarters are in Kingston, Saint Vincent, and his election was duly intimated, as required by law, to the Registrar on 7 September 1970. On 28 September 1970, the complaint continues, the Financial Secretary of Saint Vincent, Cecil A. Jacobs, called Lynch to his office, asked him to resign as President of the Union, and told him that he should not be " active ", apart from retaining his ordinary membership of the Union.
2. 44. The complainants add that Lynch had previously been denied a transfer to the Revenue Office at Georgetown, some twenty-four miles away, which he had requested to enable him to be near his ailing mother. This transfer had been granted within twenty-four hours of the notification to the Registrar of his appointment as President of the Union.
3. 45. On 29 September 1970 the Union wrote to the Ministry of Finance informing the Financial Secretary that the Union had accepted Lynch's request to be relieved of his duties as President of the Union. This letter added that the Union considered that the Financial Secretary's action constituted a violation of the Freedom of Association Conventions. The complainants state that the Executive Council of the Union was forced to relieve Lynch of his duties as President, for the time being, in order to avoid further victimisation.
4. 46. In response to the allegation the Government states that the Financial Secretary is responsible, as head of the Ministry of Finance, for all departments falling within the scope of the Ministry, one of which is the Accountant General's Department. Lynch was employed at the Revenue Office in Georgetown, which is a sub-office of the Accountant General's Department. It was in his capacity as Head of the Ministry of Finance that the Financial Secretary called Lynch to his office to discuss with him matters pertaining to his work at Georgetown.
5. 47. The Government states that the Financial Secretary denies categorically having asked Lynch to resign his trade union office, or that he was acting under any kind of political pressure. The Government adds that " In the course of his conversation with Mr. Lynch in connection with his duties at the Revenue Office in Georgetown generally, the Financial Secretary did suggest to him that, as a very junior officer in the Service, he should consider carefully whether it was in his interest and that of his department to accept office as President of the Saint Vincent Workers' Union ". Mr. Lynch, the Government continues, indicated that he was not fully aware that his name had been put forward as a candidate for the presidency of the Union, and offered to go immediately to the Registrar and inform him that he no longer wished to be associated with the Union as its President. The Government states that Mr. Lynch left the Financial Secretary's office on the most cordial terms after promising to do his best to assist in the smooth running of the office in Georgetown.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 48. The Committee can only conclude, in the light of the Government's explanation of the meeting which took place between the Financial Secretary and Lynch, that the Financial Secretary's remarks were intended to dissuade Lynch from accepting the appointment as President of the Saint Vincent Workers' Union by creating the impression that acceptance of the post might be detrimental to his own interests or those of the Department. It is the Committee's view that such action on the part of the Financial Secretary constituted an interference in the right of the Saint Vincent Workers' Union to elect its representatives in full freedom, a guarantee provided by Article 3 of Convention No. 87.
2. 49. The Committee has on several occasions emphasised the importance which it has always attached to the principle that workers' organisations should have the right to elect their representatives in full freedom, and that the public authorities should refrain from any interference which would restrict this right or impede the lawful exercise thereof.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 50. In the circumstances, and with regard to the case as a whole, the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to express the view that the Financial Secretary's remarks to Lynch constituted an infringement of the free exercise of trade union rights in violation of Article 3 of Convention No. 87, so far as it concerns the right of workers' organisations to elect their representatives in full freedom; and
   • (b) to draw the attention of the Government to the principles expressed in paragraph 49 above in order to ensure that the election of trade union representatives may be free from any interference, either direct or indirect, by the public authorities.