Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 316, June 1999

Case No 1698 (New Zealand) - Complaint date: 08-FEB-93 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 69. At its meeting in November 1998 (see 311th Report, paras. 66-68), the Committee recalled that the right to strike was one of the essential means through which workers and their organizations may promote and defend their economic and social interests and therefore once again urged the Government to amend section 63(e) of the Employment Contracts Act (ECA) so as to ensure protection of this right. Furthermore, the Committee noted the Government's indication that it was considering the issues relating to bargaining, particularly as concerns the recognition of the employees' representative and that it would announce its conclusions on these issues shortly. It requested the Government to keep it informed of developments in this regard.
2. 70. In a communication dated 15 February 1999, the Government indicated that its consideration of issues relating to bargaining, particularly recognition of the employees' representative, has led it to the conclusion that the existing requirements under the ECA, as clarified by the case law, are sufficient to support fairness in bargaining and therefore it would not seem necessary to amend the current legislation. As concerns section 63(e), the Government reiterated its position that this section provides a balance between the employees' right to strike and employers' rights not to have to face strike action and incur losses due to the actions of other employers over which they have no control or to be bound into arrangements with competing business. Finally, the Government provided information on recent cases concerning the application of the ECA.
3. 71. The Committee takes note of this information. As concerns section 63(e) of the ECA (see Digest of principles and decisions of the Freedom of Association Committee, 1994, para. 844), the Committee can only strongly reiterate its previous conclusion in this case that provisions which prohibit strikes, if they are concerned with the issue of whether a collective employment contract will bind more than one employer, are contrary to the principles of freedom of association on the right to strike (see 292nd Report, para. 737). It requests the Government to amend section 63(e) in this respect, and to keep it informed of any measures taken.