Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 300, November 1995

Case No 1821 (Ethiopia) - Complaint date: 10-FEB-95 - Closed

Allegations: Government interference in the internal affairs of a trade union organization, cancellation of registration, confiscation of property and prohibition of access to its headquarters

1. 144. This complaint was presented in a communication from the Organization of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) dated 10 February 1995. The OATUU subsequently sent additional information in a communication dated 27 March 1995. The Government sent its observations in communications dated 3 April and 6 June 1995.
2. 145. Ethiopia has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. The complainant's allegations

1. 146. In its communication dated 10 February 1995 the Organization of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) alleges that the Government has made every possible effort to paralyse the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU), despite opposition from the Central High Court. The complainant organization states that, apart from trying to paralyse the Confederation, the authorities have sealed the doors to the CETU headquarters and confiscated its assets and vehicles. It points out that all these illegal measures are designed to "decapitate" the CETU and "domesticate" trade union movement precisely when the fate of Ethiopian workers is being seriously threatened by the introduction of structural adjustment programmes that have been imposed by the Bretton Woods institutions.
2. 147. In its communication dated 27 March 1995 the complainant organization states that, following an internal dispute within the CETU, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs decided on 6 December 1994 to cancel the organization's registration. In addition, the police has stopped the president of the CETU from entering the organization's headquarters and some officials from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs have appropriated the CETU's funds. On 30 April 1995 the Minister of Labour wrote to the nine federations making up the CETU, instructing them to send their representatives to his office in order to set up a committee appointed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to administer the CETU's assets. The complainant organization states that, as the law stands, the dissolution of the organization takes effect if an appeal is not lodged with the courts within a specified period. The complainant organization has accordingly lodged an appeal and presumes that the legal personality of the CETU still exists and that the elected members can legally exercise their trade union activities.
3. 148. Lastly, the complainant organization states that the CETU's statutes provide that, in the event of the dissolution of the organization, only its general assembly has the authority to decide how to dispose of the Confederation's assets. (The complainant organization encloses a considerable number of documents with its complaint. These include two decisions handed down by the Central High Court (dated 12 and 16 December 1994) to the effect that the request to cancel the registration of the CETU was addressed to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs by some of the organization's members and that on 27 October 1994 the Ministry requested the Central High Court for permission to intervene. Though the Central High Court ruled on 28 October 1994 that, to prevent the breakdown of the Ethiopian trade union movement, both parties to the dispute should desist from any action liable to cause strife among the workers and disrupt the peace process, in its decision of 12 December 1994 it considered that the closure of the trade union organization's office was improper and that the ministerial authorities should refrain from taking matters into their own hands without a court order. Furthermore, it its decision of 16 December 1994 the Central High Court ruled that the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs should return the organization's confiscated assets.)

B. The Government's reply

1. 149. In its communications dated 3 April and 6 June 1995, the Government states that, as a dispute had broken out between the executive committee members of the Confederation which posed a serious threat to the unity of the CETU, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs did all it could to help the parties to the conflict to reconcile their positions, but to no effect. The situation reached such a point that it was impossible for the CETU to function normally and that, although legal action was taken to allow the CETU to solve its internal problems and operate normally, no viable solution could be found. As it was clear that the CETU had failed to meet the requirements of Labour Proclamation No. 42/1993 and of its own statutes, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs had no option but to cancel the registration of the organization, in accordance with section 121(2) of the above-mentioned Proclamation. The CETU lodged an appeal with the Central High Court and the final decision is still pending.
2. 150. With regard to the sealing of the doors at the headquarters of the CETU and the confiscation of its assets, the Government states that these measures were taken in conformity with a decision handed down by the Court on 28 October 1994 and that the appeal lodged by the CETU against the decision was rejected. Given the worsening of the internal dispute the assets of Ethiopian workers were no longer safe. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs was informed of this after the majority of the federations affiliated to the CETU requested the administrative authorities to protect the CETU's property until the dispute was resolved. The Ministry of Labour proposed that a trustee be appointed by the federations for the CETU's assets. This proposal was made in good faith in order to protect the CETU's assets, but it was up to the affiliated federations to decide whether to accept the proposal or to make some other arrangement. Lastly, the Government declares that the alleged misappropriation of CETU funds by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and setting up of a trade union are completely unfounded.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 151. The Committee notes with concern that the allegations made in this case refer to government interference in the internal affairs of a trade union organization that gave rise to the administrative cancellation of the organization's registration and the subsequent denial of admission to its headquarters and sealing of the premises, as well as the confiscation of its assets (funds and motor vehicles).
2. 152. The Committee notes that the Government states in connection with the cancellation of the registration of the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU), that: (1) given that there was a dispute between the executive committee members of the Confederation which seriously threatened the unity of the CETU, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs was obliged to cancel the registration of the organization on 6 December 1994, in accordance with section 121(2) of Labour Proclamation No. 42/1993, after having tried unsuccessfully to help the parties to the dispute to reconcile their positions; and (2) the CETU lodged an appeal against the cancellation with the Central High Court, which has not yet handed down its ruling. With respect to the sealing of the CETU's premises and confiscation of its assets following the cancellation of the Confederation's registration, the Committee notes the Government's statement that: (i) these measures were taken in conformity with a Central High Court decision of 28 October 1994 and that the appeal lodged by the CETU against that decision was rejected (the complainant organization however encloses subsequent decisions delivered by the same court which state that the closure of the trade union organization's office was improper and that the ministerial authorities should refrain from taking matters into their own hands without a court order; furthermore, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs should return the organization's assets); and (ii) as the majority of the federations affiliated to the CETU had requested the administrative authorities to protect the CETU's assets until the internal dispute was resolved, the Ministry of Labour proposed that a trustee be appointed by the federations for the CETU's assets.
3. 153. The Committee observes that, according to the Government, the cancellation of the CETU's registration was due to a dispute between two factions within the organization and that one of them challenged the cancellation before the legal authorities. Recalling that on various occasions it has indicated that "in cases of internal conflict, judicial intervention would permit a clarification of the situation from the legal point of view for the purpose of settling questions concerning the management and representation of the trade union federation concerned, and that another possible means of settlement would be to appoint an independent arbitrator to be agreed on by the parties concerned, to seek a joint solution to existing problems" (see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, 3rd edition, 1985, para. 671), the Committee deplores that the Government cancelled the CETU's registration through administrative channels. The Committee draws the Government's attention to the fact that the cancellation of a trade union organization's registration by administrative authority because of an internal dispute - which in fact implies the suspension of its activities - is a serious infringement of the principles of freedom of association, and in particular of Article 4 of Convention No. 87 which provides that workers' and employers' organizations are not liable to be dissolved by administrative authority.
4. 154. This being the case, the Committee strongly urges the Government to take the necessary measures to annul the administrative decision cancelling the registration of the CETU, and - in accordance with the decisions of the judicial authority (Central High Court) - to put an end to the denial of admission to the CETU's headquarters and the sealing of its premises and to ensure that the assets (funds and motor vehicles) are returned. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in this respect.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 155. In the light of its foregoing conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendation:
   • Deploring the fact that the Government resorted to the cancellation of the CETU's registration to put an end to an inter-union dispute and recalling that when internal disputes occur within a trade union organization they should be resolved with the participation of the parties concerned, the Committee strongly urges the Government to take the necessary measures to annul the administrative decision cancelling the registration of the CETU, to put an end to the denial of admission to the CETU's headquarters and the sealing of its premises, and to return the assets (funds and motor vehicles). The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in this respect.