Definitive Report - Report No 147, 1975

Case No 775 (Uganda) - Complaint date: 29-DEC-73 - Closed

1. 186. The complaint of the Uganda Teachers' Union is contained in a communication dated 29 December 1973. A copy of this complaint was sent to the Government, which forwarded its reply on 9 May 1974.
2. 187. Uganda has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), but it has ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 188. In their letter of 29 December 1973, the complainants state that the Uganda Teachers' Union was duly registered under earlier trade union legislation. Pursuant to the new Trade Unions Act, 1965, its registration was withdrawn and it sought re-registration.
2. 189. In the meanwhile, its members had already filled in forms authorising a check-off for union dues but the ministry of Education refused to institute the system. The Ministry of Education allegedly took the position that since the complainant union had not yet been re-registered it was operating illegally and that only a rival organisation, the Uganda Teachers' Association, was the proper bargaining representative for teachers. The General Secretary of the complainant union was advised to dissolve it and to join the Uganda Teachers' Association.
3. 190. The complainants further allege that the Uganda Teachers' Association is not supported by the majority of teachers because it lacks bargaining procedures.
4. 191. These disputes were, according to the complainants, placed before the Ministry of Labour, but the latter merely advised the Union to cease operating in a manner it described as "illegal", since re-registration had not yet been granted. The complainants state that this was the same Ministry of Labour which had previously advised the Uganda Teachers' Union to re-register in 1971. In a letter of 24 May of that year, the Ministry had allegedly stated that it did not wish to stop the Union from operating since it was aware that the Union was functioning in the interest of education and better social, economic and working conditions for teachers.
5. 192. The rival union, the Uganda Teachers' Association, receives subsidies from the Government and collects its dues by means of a check-off system. Moves to amalgamate the two organisations in 1967 failed although they were supported both by the Ministry of Labour and by the complainants.
6. 193. The complainants ask the ILO to intervene and request the Minister of Labour to reconsider the decision to dissolve the Uganda Teachers' Union by refusing to re-register it, and to ensure that union dues can be collected by the check-off system according to the wishes of its members.
7. 194. In its reply dated 9 May 1974, the Government states that the Uganda Teachers' Association was founded in 1945 and covered all African teachers in Uganda. In 1958 the vernacular, primary and junior secondary school teachers broke away to form the complainant union. The latter was registered under the Trade Union Ordinance of 1952.
8. 195. The Government goes on to state that when the new Trade Unions Act was enacted in 1965, all registered trade unions were dissolved and required to apply for re-registration under the terms of the new legislation. The application of the Uganda Teachers' Union was refused on the grounds that the Uganda Teachers' Association was sufficiently representative to cater for the interests of all of the teachers in Uganda.
9. 196. The Government states also that there is irrefutable evidence that the Uganda Teachers' Union has virtually ceased to exist and that the General Secretary had been convicted in the courts on charges of submitting false returns concerning the Uganda Teachers' Union's membership. The Government points out that the Union could, in any case, have appealed against the refusal to reregister to the High Court of Uganda under section 7 of the Trade Unions Act, 1965, but that it did not see fit to do so. Further, the Union can still appeal to the Trade Unions' Tribunal established under section 13 of the Trade Unions Act, 1970, as amended by Decree No. 29 of 1973 and ultimately to the High Court. The Government expresses its surprise that the Union had chosen not to exercise these rights of appeal.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 197. It would appear to the Committee that the complaint raises the issue of the refusal of the Ministry of Labour to reregister the complainants under the new trade union legislation, which refusal has led to a situation in which, in particular, it is not possible for that union to collect, with the consent of its members, its trade union dues by means of a check-off system, as provided for by the national legislation, and that this has led to an advantage being obtained by another union.
2. 198. On the issue of the refusal to re-register, the Committee has stated in an earlier case concerning the same Ugandan trade union legislation that attention should be drawn to the risk of interference by the authorities responsible for effecting the registration of trade unions when registration can be refused not only because a sufficiently representative organisation already exists, but also because the Registrar is satisfied that an existing organisation is likely to become sufficiently representative. Such a situation does not appear to be compatible with the principle according to which the law of the land should not be such as to impair, nor should it be so applied as to impair, the right of workers to form organisations of their own choosing without previous authorisation.
3. 199. Also, in cases where the Registrar has to form his own judgment as to whether the conditions for registration of a trade union have been fulfilled, although an appeal lies against his decisions to the courts, the Committee has considered that the existence of a procedure of appeal to the courts does not appear to be a sufficient guarantee; in effect this does not alter the nature of the powers conferred on the authorities responsible for effecting registration, and the judges hearing such an appeal would only be able to ensure that the legislation had been correctly applied.

200. The Committee therefore recommends the Governing Body to request the Government to reconsider its refusal to register the Uganda Teachers' Union in the light of the considerations and principles set out in the preceding two paragraphs.