Definitive Report - Report No 230, November 1983

Case No 1166 (Honduras) - Complaint date: 13-OCT-82 - Closed

1. 103. The Committee already examined this case in May-June 1983 when it presented an interim report to the Governing Body. 1
2. 104. The Government subsequently sent a communication dated 23 August 1983.
3. 105. Honduras has ratified both the Freedom of Association and the Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. Previous examination of the case

1. 106. When the Committee examined this case in May-June 1983, there remained pending the allegations concerning the dismissal of 20 teachers following strike action taken in the second half of 1982; the search carried out by the police on the premises of the College for the Advancement of the Honduran Teaching Profession (COLPROSUMAH) in July 1982; the holding in custody for 24 hours of this organisation's leaders because of a telephone call to Nicaragua (the authorities accused the COLPROSUMAH leaders of demonstrating their sympathy and solidarity with their colleagues in Nicaragua and El Salvador); and the acts of interference by the authorities during the annual meeting of COLPROSUMAH which was held in December 1982 to elect its executive committee.
2. 107. The Committee requested the Government to take steps to reinstate the 20 teachers who remained dismissed and to send its observations on the other allegations.

B. The Government's reply

1. 108. The Government states in its communication of 23 August 1983 that as it had already pointed out, the dispute which arose in the teaching sector in 1982 was the result of the intransigence of the teachers' leaders who encouraged a state of institutional instability brought about by continuous work stoppages by teachers (50 per cent of the working time of a school year had been lost in such stoppages) and by the insistence on obtaining wage increases from the Government which were impossible to grant in view of the serious economic crisis which the country was facing and continues to face. The Government ads that the teachers who were suspended as a result of the events which occurred in 1982 have now been reinstated and that at the moment, no teacher remains dismissed for this reason. The conditions brought about during the previous year have been overcome and the present year has been marked by a spirit of work in the different schools and institutes of the country.
2. 109. As regards the events which occurred within COLPROSUMAH and which resulted in the election of the executive committee, the Government states that these are events which fall exclusively within the competence of this organisation since its statutes define the procedure regarding the taking of its decisions and the competent appeal bodies. At all events, the participation of the Government cannot exceed that permitted by the laws of the country.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 110. The Committee notes with interest that according to the Government, no teachers now remain dismissed as a result of the strike action taken in the teaching sector in the second half of 1982.
2. 111. The Committee also notes the Government's statement with regard to the allegations of interference by the authorities in the election of the executive committee of COLPROSUMAH that the events which occurred within this organisation fall exclusively within the competence of the said organisation and that its statutes regulate the procedure regarding the taking of decisions and the appeal bodies. In this respect, the Committee observes that the Government has not replied with sufficient clarity to these allegations. In these circumstances. the Committee cannot but recall that in pursuance of Article 3 of Convention No. 87 the public authorities should refrain from any interference which could restrict the right of organisations to elect their representatives in full freedom.
3. 112. With regard to the remaining allegations (search by the police of the COLPROSUMAH premises and the detention of this organisation's leaders for 24 hours), the Committee regrets that the Government has not replied to them. In these circumstances, the Committee draws the attention of the Government to the fact that measures of preventive detention against the trade union leaders for activities connected with the exercise of trade union rights are contrary to the principles of freedom of association, and that the search of trade union premises should only be made following the issue of a warrant by the judicial authority within the framework of a criminal investigation.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 113. In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to approve this report and in particular the following conclusions:
   • (a) The Committee notes with interest that no teachers remain dismissed as a result of the strike action taken in the teaching sector in the second half of 1982.
   • (b) The Committee recalls that in pursuance of Article 3 of Convention No. 87 the public authorities should refrain from any interference which would restrict the right of workers' organisations to elect their representatives in full freedom.
   • (c) The Committee draws the attention of the Government to the fact that the detention of trade union leaders for activities connected with the exercise of trade union rights are contrary to the principles of freedom of association and that the search of trade union premises should only be made following the issue of a warrant by the judicial authority within the framework of a criminal investigation.