Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 327, March 2002

Case No 2135 (Chile) - Complaint date: 22-JAN-01 - Closed

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

1. 42. The Committee last examined this case at its November 2001 meeting [see 326th Report, paras. 245-268]. On that occasion, the Committee observed that the complainants disputed that resolution No. 71 of 21 July 2000, issued by the Ministry of the Economy, Public Works and Reconstruction, should prohibit the right to strike not only for those workers at the Metropolitan Sanitation Company who were providing an essential service, but also for those who were involved in areas that were clearly separate from the provision of essential services, such as administrative tasks, legal advice, design projects, planning, construction and works inspection, information technology and others. The Committee recalled that water supply services were an essential service where the right to strike might be prohibited with adequate protection to compensate for that limitation [see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, 4th edition, 1996, paras. 544 and 546]. However, the Committee noted that the Government stated that further investigation was needed as regards the claim presented by the complainants, in which the different sections or duties that were carried out within the company be defined so that only those workers who were directly linked to the provision of the essential service be deprived of the right to strike and that the investigation should be carried out by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security as soon as possible. The Committee appreciated and encouraged that initiative and hoped that the investigation would be carried out very shortly.
2. 43. In a communication dated 11 January 2002, the Government states that the Labour Services are currently studying how to define the different sections or duties within the Metropolitan Sanitation Company in order to identify the workers who are directly linked to the provision of the essential service, and that it will inform the Committee as soon as the studies are finalized.
3. 44. The Committee notes the Government’s statement with interest and requests the Government to keep it informed of developments in this respect.