Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 309, March 1998

Case No 1856 (Uruguay) - Complaint date: 25-SEP-95 - Closed

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

1. 39. At its meeting in March 1996, the Committee formulated the following recommendation on this case: "Regarding the dismissal allegedly on financial grounds of 39 workers four days after the end of the dispute in the Perses SA enterprise, the Committee requests the Government to conduct an inquiry into the reasons for the dismissals and, should it find that they were ordered on anti-union grounds, to take steps to have the persons concerned reinstated in their jobs. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed on the subject" (see 302nd Report, para. 439). At its meeting in November 1996, the Committee took note of the Government's statements according to which the General Inspectorate for Labour and Social Security was beginning an investigation into the allegations (see 305th Report, paras. 64 and 65). Subsequently, in a communication of 5 March 1997, the Government stated that the investigation was at the evidence-gathering stage, i.e. was in the process of receiving and collecting the evidence submitted to it by the parties involved, mainly in the form of testimonial evidence, and that it had not yet reached any definitive conclusions on the matter. The Government added that when the administrative procedure reached its final stage, it would inform the Committee of its findings.
2. 40. At its meeting in November 1997 (see 308th Report, paras. 81-83), the Committee took note of this information and, since the inquiry had already taken one year, expressed the hope that the administrative authority would expedite the matter and requested the Government to take steps to that end. The Committee awaited the final outcome of the inquiry.
3. 41. In its communication of 21 January 1998, the Government states that during the evidence- gathering stage of the inquiry into the dismissals in question, one purpose of which is to allow the parties to substantiate their respective positions, only the defendant company, Perses SA, had presented itself, the Peres SA Staff Association having failed to do so. The Government also states that the information collected during the proceedings is insufficient to allow definitive conclusions to be reached on the content of the complaint, and the General Inspectorate for Labour and Social Security was therefore withdrawing the file.
4. 42. The Committee takes note of this information and regrets that the Peres SA Staff Association did not present itself at the evidence-gathering stage of the inquiry requested by the Committee. Under these circumstances, given that the allegations date back to April 1995 and taking into account the lack of interest shown in the case by the complainant organization, the Committee will not pursue its examination of the allegations.