Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 335, November 2004

Case No 2111 (Peru) - Complaint date: 27-NOV-00 - Closed

Allegations: Dismissal of a union officer from the regional electricity utility enterprise Electronorte Medio S.A.; dismissal of union officers from the mining company Iscaycruz, pressure upon members to resign from their union and requests from the company to dissolve the union; dismissal of a union officer from the Compañía de Minas Buenaventura S.A. and criminal proceedings for defamation against officers of the Toquepala Mineworkers’ Union at the Southern Peru Copper Corporation

1. 1164. The Committee examined this case at its meeting in March 2003 when it presented an interim report to the Governing Body [see 330th Report, paras. 989-1009, approved by the Governing Body at its 286th Session (March 2003)].
2. 1165. Since the Government had not replied to the allegations which remained pending, the Committee issued an urgent appeal to it at its May-June 2004 meeting [see 334th Report, para. 9, approved by the Governing Body at its 290th Session (June 2004)], drawing the Government’s attention to the fact that, in conformity with the current procedure, it would present a report at its next meeting on the substance of the case even if the Government’s observations had not been received by that date. Since then no reply has been received from the Government.
3. 1166. Peru 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. Previous examination of the case

1. 1167. When the case was last examined, in March 2003, the Committee made the following recommendations:
   • (a) The Committee requests the Government to send it a copy of the final ruling in the case of the dismissal of union officer Mr. Victor Taype Zúñiga, and hopes that the judicial authority will give a ruling on the matter without delay.
   • (b) Regarding the allegations relating to the criminal case brought by the Southern Peru Copper Corporation against the Toquepala Mineworkers’ Union and others for alleged aggravated defamation, the Committee requests the Government to inform it of the judicial authority’s ruling.
   • (c) With regard to the FNTMMSP’s allegations dated 5 September and 1 October 2002 (the dismissal in Iscaycruz of union officers Mr. Tomás Castro, Mr. Edwin Espinoza Martínez and Mr. Jesús Vázquez Ampuero, union members Mr. Rafael Pardo Velarde, Mr. Nicolás Cano Richard Arturo and three others; the reduction in the number of union members from 126 to 36 as a consequence of the company’s threats to make workers resign from the union; and the company’s request to the Ministry of Labour for the union to be dissolved for not having the legal minimum number of members), the Committee regrets that the Government has not sent its observations and requests it to carry out an investigation into these serious allegations and, should the alleged anti-union actions be proven, to take the necessary measures to rectify the situation. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in this respect.
   • (d) Lastly, the Committee again requests the Government to send it a copy of the ruling on the dismissal of trade union officer Mr. José Castañeda Espejo.

B. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 1168. The Committee deplores the fact that the Government has not sent the information requested by it when it examined the case at its March 2003 meeting, the more so since some of the allegations are of an extreme gravity and since at its March 2004 meeting it had addressed an urgent appeal to the Government requesting it to transmit its observations without delay. Given that the Government has not replied since the Committee’s March 2003 meeting, the Committee is obliged to present a report to the Governing Body even in the absence of observations on the allegations.
2. 1169. The Committee reminds the Government, first, that the purpose of the whole procedure established by the International Labour Organization for the examination of allegations concerning violations of freedom of association is to ensure respect for the rights of employers’ and workers’ organizations in law and in fact. If this procedure protects governments against unreasonable accusations, governments on their side should recognize the importance of formulating, for objective examination, detailed factual replies concerning the substance of the allegations brought against them [see First Report of the Committee, para. 31].
3. 1170. The Committee requests the Government to solicit information from the employers’ organizations concerned, with a view to having at its disposal their views, as well as those of the enterprise concerned.
4. 1171. In these circumstances, the Committee repeats the conclusions it reached at its March 2003 meeting, urging the Government immediately to investigate and submit information as requested regarding the dismissal of union officer Mr. Victor Taype Zúñiga (Compañía de Minas Buenaventura S.A.); the criminal case for alleged aggravated defamation initiated by the Southern Peru Copper Corporation against the Toquepala Mineworkers’ Union and others; the dismissal from the mining company Iscaycruz of union officers Mr. Tomás Castro, Mr. Edwin Espinoza Martínez and Mr. Jesús Vázquez Ampuero, union members Mr. Rafael Pardo Velarde, Mr. Nicolás Cano Richard Arturo and three others; the reduction in union members from 126 to 36 as a consequence of the company’s threats to make workers resign from the union; and the company’s request to the Ministry of Labour for the union to be dissolved for not having the legal minimum number of members and the ruling on union official Mr. José Castañeda Espejo (regional electricity utility enterprise Electronorte Medio S.A.).

The Committee's recommendations

1. 1172. 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 solicit information from the employers’ organizations concerned, with a view to having at its disposal their views, as well as those of the enterprise concerned.
   • (b) The Committee deplores the fact that the Government has not sent the information requested by it at its March 2003 meeting regarding the allegations that remained pending.
   • (c) The Committee urges the Government once again to send it a copy of the final ruling on the dismissal of trade union officer Mr. Víctor Taype Zúñiga and hopes that the judicial authority will give a ruling on the matter without delay.
   • (d) Regarding the allegation relating to the criminal case for alleged aggravated defamation brought by the Southern Peru Copper Corporation against the Toquepala Mineworkers’ Union and others, the Committee urges the Government to inform it of the judicial authority’s ruling.
   • (e) With regard to the FNTMMSP’s allegations dated 5 September and 1 October 2002 (the dismissal from Iscaycruz of union officers Mr. Tomás Castro, Mr. Edwin Espinoza Martínez and Mr. Jesús Vázquez Ampuero, union members Mr. Rafael Pardo Velarde, Mr. Nicolás Cano Richard Arturo and three others; the reduction in the number of union members from 126 to 36 as a consequence of the company’s threats to make workers resign from the union; and the company’s request to the Ministry of Labour for the union to be dissolved for not having the legal minimum number of members), the Committee regrets that the Government has not sent its observations and requests it to carry out an investigation immediately into these serious allegations and, should the alleged anti-union acts be proven, to take the necessary measures to rectify the situation. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in this respect.
   • (f) Lastly, the Committee again requests the Government to send it a copy of the ruling on the dismissal of trade union officer Mr. José Castañeda Espejo.