Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 346, June 2007

Case No 2017 (Guatemala) - Complaint date: 05-MAR-99 - Closed

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

1. 46. The Committee last examined these cases at its meeting in March 2006 [see 340th Report, paras 98–100] and on that occasion:
2. (i) with respect to the allegations concerning the Banco de Crédito Hipotecario Nacional (anti-union dismissals and suspensions), the Committee recalled that the Government had provided information about action being taken by the negotiating committee in respect of these allegations and requested the Government to keep it informed of the progress made by that committee;
3. (ii) with respect to the allegations relating to the Tamport S.A. company (dismissals due to the company's closure), the Committee requested the Government to inform it of the final results of the legal proceedings under way;
4. (iii) with regard to the dismissals from the La Exacta and/or San Juan El Horizonte farm, in respect of which reinstatement had been ordered, the Committee requested the Government to keep it informed of the reinstatement proceedings under way;
5. (iv) with regard to the murder of Mr. Baudillo Amado Cermeño Ramírez in December 2001, the Committee requested the Government to send it the ruling handed down in that respect;
6. (v) with regard to the allegations concerning the kidnapping of and assaults and threats against the trade unionist of the Santa María de Lourdes farm, Mr. Walter Oswaldo Apen Ruiz, and his family, the Committee requested the Government to send its observations and to ensure that the safety of the trade union member, which had been threatened, was guaranteed; and
7. (vi) with regard to the allegations relating to the murder of trade union members Efraín Recinos, Basilio Guzmán, Diego Orozco and José García Gonzáles, the injuries to 11 workers and the detention of 45 workers of the La Exacta and/or San Juan El Horizonte farm, the Committee urged the Government to send information in this respect without delay.
8. 47. In its communications dated 29 May, 16 October and 29 December 2006, the Government reports that:
9. – Information was requested from the District Prosecutor of the Government Prosecutor’s Office of the municipality of Coatepeque in the department of Quetzaltenango regarding the alleged violence at the La Exacta farm (following the dismissals carried out by the company, the workers and their families decided to occupy the company’s premises peacefully in order to press for the reinstatement of the dismissed workers. The occupation lasted 35 days, ending on 24 August 1994, when the employer, with private police officers who were supported by the army and the national police, evicted the farmers, killing three, arresting 45 and injuring 11). The Prosecutor’s Office reported that the murder of the three trade unionists and the offences of coercion and usurpation involving other trade unionists was being processed, that various steps had been taken and that some of the trade unionists had been granted bail. In October 1996 the competent judge ordered the provisional closure of the case in favour of the trade unionists due to the offences of triple homicide, inflicting injury, abuse of authority, coercion and usurpation. In 2001, the Government-Prosecutor’s Office requested that the investigation be reopened, which the first instance court judge allowed. At present, the case is in the investigation phase, the examining magistrate having summoned the trade unionists pending the first statement on the aforementioned offences. The Committee notes this information, regrets the excessive delay in the investigation and requests the Government to keep it informed on the final result of the trial.
10. – With regard to the allegations relating to the Tamport SA company, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare requested information regarding this case from the Seventh Labour and Social Welfare Court, which reported that the decision of 20 February 2006 rejected the company’s objections and that the case was closed on 8 March 2006 because the workers stated that it was no longer in their interest to negotiate the list of claims. On 29 March 2005, the judicial authority ordered the definitive seizure of the machinery belonging to the company and on 9 March it ordered the definitive seizure of the property of Ms Dora Elizabeth Tanchez Portillo, legal representative and shareholder of Tamport SA, who died on 24 October 2005. The Court was informed of this on 7 November 2005. The seized goods have not been sold because the deceased’s probate proceedings representative has to be legally appointed by the claimants. The Committee notes this information and hopes that the workers in question will receive the appropriate compensation and benefits in law once the company’s property has been sold.
11. – With respect to the allegations concerning the Banco de Crédito Hipotecario Nacional, it should be noted that the negotiating committee, set up in 2002, was unsuccessful, due to the employer’s lack of political will, and therefore the Ministry of Labour could not mediate. Despite the fact that the committee could not fulfil its task, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, through the Tripartite Committee on International Labour Affairs and the rapid response mechanism for examining cases recommended by the 2004 direct contacts mission, intervened to resolve the labour conflict at the request of the workers. The workers and employers were invited to a conciliation meeting, where it was agreed that a bipartite conciliation committee should be set up, composed of one employers’ representative and one workers’ representative from the Tripartite Committee on International Labour Affairs. As a result of these efforts, bipartite meetings were held and progress was made on the points for discussion; however, because of an anti-bank bulletin published by the trade union, the employers withdrew from the bipartite committee and all further conciliation meetings were cancelled. After these events, the parties were urged to continue the conciliation meetings, but only the workers expressed a desire to do so; the bank’s management did not reply. A workers’ representative from the Tripartite Committee subsequently reported that the problems continued between the trade union and the bank’s management and it was therefore requested that the bank again be sent communications urging it to reconsider its position. The Committee notes this information. The Committee deeply regrets that after the extensive period that has elapsed since the allegations of anti-union dismissals and suspensions, the facts have yet to be clarified. The Committee requests the Government to carry out a detailed independent investigation without delay into these events and, if they are found to be of an anti-union nature, to take the necessary measures to reinstate the dismissed workers.
12. 48. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to send without delay the information requested regarding: (a) the reinstatement proceedings of the workers dismissed from the La Exacta and/or San Juan El Horizonte farm; (b) the ruling regarding the murder of Mr Baudillo Amado Cermeño Ramírez; and (c) the kidnapping of, and assaults and threats against, the trade unionist Walter Oswaldo Apen Ruiz and his family. Taking into account the seriousness of these issues, the Committee urges the Government to ensure that a prompt judicial investigation into these acts of violence is carried out and hopes that the guilty parties will be punished.