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- 709. The Trade Union of Seamen employed by the CPV presented a complaint
- alleging the violation of freedom of association by the Government of Peru in
- a communication of 14 December 1987. Additional information in support of this
- complaint was sent on 22 January 1988. The Trade Union of Shoreworkers
- employed by the CPV sent a communication dated 2 February 1988. The Government
- sent its observations in communications of 6 May and 23 September 1988.
- 710. Peru has ratified 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).
A. The complainants' allegations
A. The complainants' allegations
- 711. In its communication of 14 December 1987, the Trade Union of Seamen
- employed by the CPV alleges that the Peruvian Steamship Company has violated
- Convention No. 98 by engaging in anti-trade union discrimination and acts of
- interference in trade union activities, as evidenced by the daily harassment
- of workers, the curtailment of long-standing rights, the threat to dismiss
- workers who do not accept conditions laid down by the undertaking and the
- replacement of unionised workers by non-unionised workers; these measures have
- compelled many workers to withdraw from the trade union in order to keep their
- jobs. Likewise, according to the complainant, the Peruvian Steamship Company
- owes workers 12 months' basic wages and 12 supplementary bonuses, going back
- to 1981, as well as an 82 per cent basic wage increase as from 1987, under the
- terms of a collective agreement and a Supreme Decree of the same year. The
- company grants workers paid annual leave after two full years of service at
- ludicrously reduced wages. The company's harassment has led many workers to
- resign and yet, more often than not, it refuses to pay the required
- compensation for length of service; in the few cases where it has paid this
- compensation workers have had to wait up to one year, while the legislation
- provides for a maximum delay of 48 hours. The company has also failed to abide
- by medical assistance requirements in spite of the fact that it deducts and
- withholds contributions to the Peruvian Social Security Institute (IPSS) and
- contributions for family medical insurance; however, the company does not pay
- the corresponding contributions to these institutions, thereby making it
- impossible for these workers and their families to obtain medical care. The
- complainant's communication adds that by means of wage tactics the company is
- pitting workers against one another with a view to breaking the trade union:
- although the company pays ludicrous wages in general, it has created the
- so-called "positions of trust", which are filled by workers who have left the
- union. Likewise, the company is in violation of the Labour Stability Act and
- the Constitution inasmuch as it has over 60 workers on short-term contracts
- even though they have been working for the company for eight to 20 years
- without interruption. Lastly, as regards occupational health and safety, the
- company's boats in collusion with the port authorities at Callas have been
- granted navigability certificates although they are in a terrible state.
- 712. In its communication of 22 January 1988, the Trade Union of Seamen
- employed by the CPV sent copies of complaints presented to the Regional Office
- of Labour and Inspection and the First Provincial Criminal District Attorney
- of Callao, as well as copies of the collective agreements which the company is
- alleged to have violated since 1981.
- 713. In its communication of 2 February 1988, the Trade Union of
- Shoreworkers employed by the CPV also alleges the violation of freedom of
- association by the Peruvian Steamship Company, mentioning acts of anti-union
- discrimination and interference, including the harassment of workers, the
- curtailment of acquired rights, the threats to dismiss workers who do not
- accept the company's conditions and ill-treatment, which have led many workers
- to resign from the trade union. The communication of the Trade Union of
- Shoreworkers employed by the CPV alleges that since 1982 the company has not
- paid collectively bargained remuneration or respected clauses concerning wage
- restructuring, wage parity, work clothes, industrial safety and occupational
- hygiene, bonuses for work in refrigerated areas, and hours of work established
- for several years through agreements and legislation. Likewise, it has revoked
- provisions concerning job advancement and raises, as defined in collective
- agreements regulated by the National Statistics Institute. The harassment of
- longshoremen is constant; the company has gone so far as to send notices of
- dismissal to workers on sick leave, in violation of legal provisions which
- prohibit the dismissal of workers while they are receiving sickness benefits.
- The communication adds that under such great pressure several workers have
- accepted certain incentives offered by the company and resigned; however, they
- have been unable to obtain compensation payments or have been able to obtain
- them only in instalments even though the law provides that such benefits must
- be paid within a delay of 48 hours. The company constantly dodges its
- responsibilities as regards medical assistance, and many workers therefore
- have no family medical insurance.
- 714. The communication adds that the company is endeavouring to break the
- union by dividing workers with wage tactics and by creating the so-called
- "positions of trust" which are given to workers who have left the trade union
- and who receive twice the normal wage for the same work. Job positions and
- career paths which have been negotiated with the company, and which therefore
- have legal force, are violated by Supreme Decree No. 008-86-TC, in spite of
- the fact that section 2 of this Decree has, in respect of the Peruvian
- Steamship Company, suspended all instruments, standards and labour and
- administrative agreements which do not have the force of law. The complainant
- alleges that the so-called employment contracts are used to compel workers to
- give up job security, to give up hours of work established by agreement and by
- law, to give up any other wage increase by way of collective agreement, and to
- give up any other type of remuneration or improvement in the conditions of
- work through collective bargaining, by requiring them to resign from the Trade
- Union of Shoreworkers employed by the CPV, and by making such resignations
- appear as voluntary. The complainant encloses copies of the collective
- agreements that the enterprise has allegedly violated, and a copy of Supreme
- Decree No. 008-86-TC.
- 715. Lastly, the complainant's communication states that the company has
- violated several articles of the Constitution, as well as other legislation
- and Decrees, and that its protests are disregarded by the employer and by
- government authorities.
- B. The Government's reply
- 716. The Government sent its observations in a communication of 6 May 1988.
- It states that the Peruvian Steamship Company (CPV) is a government-owned
- corporation subject to private law, which currently finds itself in a
- difficult economic situation. For this reason, and in order to help it stay
- afloat, the State has approved a substantial line of credit and given it the
- necessary financial assistance. Nevertheless, in the light of the complaints
- presented by the workers, the General Inspection Office and the Ministry of
- Labour and Social Welfare's First Regional Labour Office were requested to
- supply information concerning the complaints presented by the Trade Union of
- Seamen and the Trade Union of Shoreworkers employed by the CPV against the
- Peruvian Steamship Company, leading to the preparation of reports Nos.
- 006-88-IN-IP, 004-88-DI-CALL, 004-88-2-DD-CALL, 006-88-IDD-CALL and
- 001-DN-CALL, in co-ordination with the Regional Labour Office of Callao. The
- Government attaches these reports to its communication.
- 717. The Government states that the Regional Director of the First Regional
- Labour and Social Welfare Office reviewed the documentation submitted by the
- above-mentioned trade union organisations and found that certain complaints
- are vague and unfounded, and that others are being examined by labour
- authorities in accordance with legal procedures established in Supreme Decrees
- Nos. 006-71-TR, 006-72-TR and 003-82-TR. Since the protests are still being
- examined, in accordance with the established procedures, it would be premature
- to state that the company has infringed any regulations, and even more so with
- the consent of the authorities, as has been stated by the complainant trade
- union organisations. Moreover, it should be noted that the Director of the
- First Regional Labour and Social Welfare Office of this Ministry has
- instructed that the complaints be given prompt consideration.
- 718. Lastly, the Government states that there is no basis for allegations
- that Peru fails to comply with the provisions of Convention No. 98, inasmuch
- as the Government has adopted legal measures compatible with the Convention to
- ensure its satisfactory application. It has established adequate procedural
- machinery to which the organisations involved have themselves made recourse;
- indeed, their claims are being examined as indicated in the previous
- paragraph. Therefore, the statements made by the complainant trade unions are
- inaccurate inasmuch as the country has legislation and procedures to examine
- and sanction the alleged actions.
- 719. In a communication of 23 September 1988 the Government refers to the
- comments made by the harbour master of the port of Callas on this matter,
- which refute the complainant's allegations that he unfairly granted
- certificates of navigability and explain that these certificates were not
- issued by him, but by the Director-General of harbour masters and coast
- guards. Nevertheless, he had received complaints from the complainant union
- concerning shortcomings in the maintenance of equipment, the poor living
- quarters and unhealthy conditions on board; in conformity with the law he had
- forced the accused to remedy the situations and imposed fines on the
- defaulting parties.
C. The Committee's conclusions
C. The Committee's conclusions
- 720. The Committee notes that the allegations presented by the Trade Union
- of Seamen employed by the CPV refer to the violation of Convention No. 98
- through acts of anti-union discrimination, the daily harassment of trade union
- members, the curtailment of workers' acquired rights, threats of dismissal,
- back-pay owed to staff, curtailment of leave entitlements, overdue payment of
- social benefits, the lack of medical care, and the infraction of job security
- legislation and industrial and occupational safety standards.
- 721. Likewise, the Committee notes that other allegations presented by the
- Trade Union of Shoreworkers employed by the CPV refer to the partial
- non-payment since 1982, of wages agreed on in collective agreements on wage
- restructuring, wage parity, work clothes, bonuses for work in refrigerated
- areas, hours of work and to the harassment of longshoremen through dismissal
- notices sent to workers on sick leave, the failure to make severance payments
- and pay "retirement incentives" within the time-limits set down by law;
- workers have been compelled to give up the hours of work established by
- collective agreement, as well as any wage increases, economic benefits, and
- improvement in conditions of work gained through collective bargaining through
- the so-called "employment contracts", which moreover require workers to give
- up their membership in the Trade Union of Shoreworkers employed by the CPV.
- 722. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government, which
- states that the Peruvian Steamship Company is a government-owned corporation
- operating under private law which is experiencing financial difficulties. The
- Committee notes that with reference to the complainants' allegations, the
- Government states that it has requested information from the labour
- authorities concerning the protests made against the CPV; that the Government
- considers some of these allegations to be vague, and states that others are
- currently being examined by the labour authorities in accordance with
- applicable legal procedures. Moreover, the Committee notes that the labour
- authorities have ordered that these complaints be examined expeditiously, and
- that the Government affirms that Peru has enacted legal measures which are
- compatible with Convention No. 98, which guarantee its satisfactory
- application and which establish pertinent procedural machinery for that
- purpose.
- 723. As regards certain allegations presented by the complainants, namely
- the non-payment by the CPV to workers of 12 periods of basic wages and 12
- supplementary bonuses, the grant of leave after two years of uninterrupted
- service, the delays in payment for length-of-service compensation payments,
- the non-payment by the company of social security contributions and family
- medical insurance premiums even though it deducts and withholds funds for
- these purposes, as well as the dismissal of workers while on sick leave
- contrary to legal provisions, the Committee points out that it is not
- competent to examine legislation concerning social security or conditions of
- work, and is therefore not in a position to decide on these allegations. (See
- 218th Report, Case No. 1113 (India), para. 715.)
- 724. As regards the complainants' allegations concerning discriminatory
- anti-union practices and interference, such as the daily harassment of
- workers, threats of dismissal, the creation of the so-called "positions of
- trust" filled by workers who have resigned from the trade union and who are
- paid twice the salary for the same work, and the incentives offered to workers
- to resign from the trade union, among others, the Committee notes that, on the
- one hand, the allegations submitted by the complainants are general in nature
- or insufficiently detailed to enable the Committee fully to examine the
- problem and, on the other hand, it notes the Government's observations to the
- effect that these protests have been brought to the attention of the labour
- authorities who are now examining them.
The Committee's recommendations
The Committee's recommendations
- 725. In the light of its foregoing interim conclusions, the Committee
- invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
- a) The Committee requests the complainants to send more detailed and
- precise information on the allegations concerning the charges of interference
- and anti-union discrimination.
- b) The Committee requests the Government to send a copy of the decisions
- taken by labour authorities concerning the complaints under examination; in
- general, it recalls the principle that no person should suffer discrimination
- in employment on the grounds of legitimate trade union activities. Geneva, 10
- November 1988. Roberto Ago, Chairman.
