Interim Report - Report No 143, 1974

Case No 747 (Guatemala) - Complaint date: 31-JAN-73 - Closed

1. 123. The complaint of the Autonomous Trade Union Federation of Guatemala (FASGUA) is contained in a communication dated 31 January 1973, and is supported by the World Federation of Trade Unions in a communication dated 12 March 1973. These complaints have been transmitted to the Government, which forwarded its observations thereon in a communication dated 14 November 1973.
2. 124. Guatemala has ratified both the Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 125. The complainants state that the trade union movement in Guatemala is encountering great hardship and that there is a concerted campaign on the part of employers to destroy trade unionism in the country by forcing workers to relinquish membership of trade unions or else be dismissed.
2. 126. The complainants provide several examples of such actions. They allege that on 30 June 1972 the workers of Fábricas Electrónicas Unidas established a union. The president of the company is said to have responded by massive dismissals (130 to date) and threatens to continue this policy of dismissal if the union is not dissolved.
3. 127. It is alleged that on 11 November 1972 a union of the workers of the undertaking Fábrica de Plásticos Zelaya Zimeri y Compañía Limitada was formed. The management summarily dismissed all workers who became members of the union, including the officers of the executive Committee. As a result the union ceased to exist.
4. 128. Similarly, on 4 December 1972, the workers at the Laboratorios Pierre Bonin Sucesores Compañía Limitada formed a union, but because of the immediate wave of dismissals which followed the rest of the workers showed no further interest in joining it.
5. 129. The complainants stress that this is only a partial list and that very large numbers of workers have been victimised by various managements on the sole grounds of having joined a trade union.
6. 130. Complaints in respect of these cases have been filed with the national labour authorities but, the complainants allege, no effort has been made to force the employers to comply with the laws forbidding such acts of anti-union discrimination.
7. 131. The Government replies by transmitting the reports of various departments of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. The officer in charge of the Workers' Protection Department of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security states that departmental policy has always been to ensure compliance with the legal provisions protecting freedom of association and to help the workers to unionise in every way possible. If in certain cases the authorities are slow to act, the officer continues, this is usually because of a lack of co-operation on the part of the unions themselves since they do not comply with the requirements of the law when submitting complaints.
8. 132. The National Department of Labour Inspection for Industry, Commerce and Services states that all the allegations made by the FASGUA concerning the passivity of governmental labour authorities are untrue. The procedures stipulated by the law in relation to trade union matters, such as verification of the number of workers employed in the undertaking on the day of the union vote, warnings denunciation and renegotiation of the collective agreements, warnings to employers that they must reinstate dismissed union officers, and the commencement of proceedings in the courts of competent jurisdiction, have been undertaken.
9. 133. This same department states further that its competence is limited to the application of standards contained in the Labour Code of Guatemala and that it usually attempts to proceed by way of conciliation. When its possibilities of administrative intervention are exhausted and the conflict has still not been resolved, the matter is referred to the labour tribunals. Where there are delays, the department alleges, these can be imputed to the unions themselves, which do not comply with the legal prerequisites provided for in such cases.
10. 134. On the basis of these statements, the Government reiterates its general polio of promotion of freedom of association and the right to organise and repeats that the appropriate government departments have undertaken all the necessary and possible procedures for the protection of these rights. It therefore requests the Committee to recommend the Governing Body to decide that the case does not call for further examination.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 135. The Committee notes the statements of the Government concerning the latter's general policy in labour matters but notes also that the Government has not provided any information concerning the specific allegations made by the complainants and the steps taken by the labour authorities in the case of the workers of Fábricas Electrónicas Unidas, the Fábrica de Plásticos Zelaya Zimeri y Compañía Limitada and the Laboratorios Pierre Bonin Sucesores Compañia Limitada who were allegedly dismissed on the sole ground of being members of a trade union.

The Committee's recommendations

• (a) to request the Government to be good enough to provide precise information concerning the specific allegations made by the complainants and the steps taken by the labour authorities in this connection; and
• (b) to take note of the present interim report, on the understanding that the Committee will report again as soon as it is in possession of the information referred to in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph.