Definitive Report - Report No 309, March 1998

Case No 1924 (Argentina) - Complaint date: 01-APR-97 - Closed

Allegations: Refusal to grant official trade union status

1. 45. The complaint in this case is contained in a communication dated 1 April 1997 from the Trade Union of National, Provincial, Municipal and Private Steam Generator Operators and allied Occupations (SCGVA). Subsequently, the complainant sent further information in another communication during June 1997. The Government sent its observations in communications dated 9 October 1997 and 11 February 1998.
2. 46. Argentina 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 complainant's allegations

1. 47. In its communications of 1 April and June 1997, the Trade Union of National, Provincial, Municipal and Private Steam Generator Operators and allied Occupations (SCGVA) states that it was established in 1990 (as is apparent from the organization's Statutes which are attached to the complaint) and that, there being no other trade union organization for workers involved in this area of activity, it applied to the authorities in 1993 for official trade union status but did not obtain an affirmative response. The complainant provides detailed information and abundant documentation on the administrative and judicial procedures which it had initiated, to no avail, to obtain official trade union status.
2. 48. Lastly, the complainant states that in 1994, the United Trade Union of Workers and Employees of Córdoba (SUOEM) appealed to the administrative authorities to oppose the granting of official trade union status to the Trade Union of National, Provincial, Municipal and Private Steam Generator Operators and allied Occupations (SCGVA).

B. The Government's reply

1. 49. In its communications of 9 October 1997 and 11 February 1998, the Government states that the complainant has been registered as a trade union since 1992 but that it has not been granted official trade union status since it has not shown itself to be the most representative trade union. The Government attaches a Ministry of Labour report of March 1995 according to which official trade union status has not been granted to the complainant because it does not comply with the requirement of section 25(b) of Act No. 23551 concerning trade union associations (i.e. membership of more than 20 per cent of the workers whom the trade union wishes to represent). The Government also claims that in the Province of Córdoba, the most representative trade union to date is the United Trade Union of Workers and Employees of Córdoba (SUOEM), since virtually all workers involved with boilers, sterilizers, compressors, etc., are public municipal employees. Finally, the Government explains that the complainant did not even indicate whether it had 20 per cent of the workers as members which now it claims to represent.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 50. The Committee notes that the present allegations refer to the refusal to grant "representative trade union status" which the Trade Union of National, Provincial, Municipal and Private Steam Generator Operators and allied Occupations (SCGVA) has been requesting since 1993 (under current legislation, only organizations which have representative status enjoy the right to enter into collective bargaining).
2. 51. The Committee notes that the reply and the supporting documentation sent by the Government indicates that it has not granted official trade union status to the complainant because: (1) it does not meet, nor has it made any indication of, the requirement of a membership of more than 20 per cent of the workers whom it wishes to represent (section 25(b) of Act No. 23551); and (2) the most representative trade union in the Province of Córdoba to date is the United Trade Union of Workers and Employees of Córdoba (SUOEM).
3. 52. In this connection, the Committee is unable in the light of available information to determine whether the membership of the complainant includes, as it claims to do, more than 20 per cent of the workers in its sector or whether or not it is the most representative organization, especially given that the allegations and the Government's reply do not indicate clearly the spheres of activity and geographical areas in which the complainant and the United Trade Union of Workers and Employees of Córdoba (SUOEM) exercise their right of representation.
4. 53. Under these circumstances, and bearing in mind the period that has elapsed since the last census of the complainant's membership (1995), the Committee requests the Government to carry out such a census with a view to determining which of the two trade union organizations in question (the SCGVA or the SUOEM) is the more representative. If it finds that the complainant is the more representative, the Committee requests the Government to grant it official trade union status which it has been seeking since 1993.
5. 54. Similarly, noting that it has already had occasion to criticize the provisions of Act No. 23551 (section 28) which requires the petitioning association, in order to contest the trade union status of an existing association, to have a "considerably higher" number of members (see 286th Report, Case No. 1551, paras. 47 to 50), and that the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations has also objected to the provision in question (see the pertinent observation of the Committee of Experts, Report III, Part 1A, 1998), the Committee requests the Government to take steps to amend the provision in question so that the criterion for the representativeness of trade unions becomes a simple majority of members.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 55. In the light of its foregoing conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • a. The Committee requests the Government to conduct a verification of membership percentages in order to determine which of the two trade union organizations in question (the Trade Union of National, Provincial, Municipal and Private Steam Generator Operators and allied Occupations (SCGVA) or the United Trade Union of Workers and Employees of Córdoba (SUOEM)) is the most representative. If it finds that the complainant is the most representative, the Committee requests the Government to grant it the official trade union status which it has been seeking since 1993.
   • b. The Committee requests the Government to take measures to amend section 28 of Act No. 23551 concerning trade union associations, which requires the petitioning association, in order to contest the trade union status of an existing association, to have a "considerably higher" number of members, in such a way that the criterion for determining the representativeness of trade unions becomes a simple majority of members.