Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 331, June 2003

Case No 2154 (Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)) - Complaint date: 14-SEP-01 - Closed

Allegation: Unfair dismissals and denial of justice in the context of the administrative reorganization of various departments of the regional Government of the State of Trujillo.

1. 736. The Committee last examined this case at its November 2002 meeting [see 329th Report, paras. 799-817], approved by the Governing Body at its November 2002 meeting.
2. 737. The Government sent its partial observations in a communication dated 14 January 2003.
3. 738. Venezuela 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. 739. At its meeting in November 2002, on examining the allegations of unfair dismissals and denial of justice in the context of an administrative reorganization which affected various departments of the regional government of the State of Trujillo, having issued an urgent appeal to the Government, which had not been heeded, to send its observations, the Committee formulated the following recommendations on the outstanding questions [see 329th Report, para. 817].
2. – The Committee urges the Government to ensure that the ruling concerning some of the persons dismissed by the regional government of the State of Trujillo is implemented and that, together with the complainant organizations, it keeps it informed of the situation of the employees in whose favour orders were issued for reinstatement in their posts and the payment of wages owed.
3. – The Committee reminds the Government that in a case involving a large number of dismissals, it would be particularly necessary for the Government to carry out an urgent inquiry in order to establish the true reasons for the measures taken. It also requests the Government that if this inquiry, which must be independent, reveals that the remaining dismissals, or some of them, were on anti-trade union grounds, it should ensure that these workers are reinstated and the outstanding wages paid. Finally, it requests the Government, together with the complainant organizations, to keep it informed in this respect.
4. B. The Government’s reply
5. 740. In its communication dated 14 January 2003, the Government confirms that in the present case the regional government of the State of Trujillo decreed an administrative reorganization of the state, based on article 160 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, articles 100 and 107 of the Constitution of the State of Trujillo and articles 5 and 6 of the state of Trujillo Political Regime Act, whereby the following public organizations of that State were dissolved: the Trujillo Sports Institute; the Trujillo Tourism Institute; the Centre for the Development of Crafts, Micro-enterprise and Small Industry of the State of Trujillo; the Agricultural Development Corporation; the Special Fund for Child Development; the Trujillo Institute of Culture; the Trujillo Development Corporation; the Trujillo educational improvement programme; the Social Security Office; the Advisory Commission on Modernization of the State of Trujillo; and the Regional Coordination and Execution Unit.
6. 741. The Government also points out that under the abovementioned derogatory decree the following new departments were created: Human Resources, Planning and Budget; Finance, Policy and Civil Security; Economic Development, Education, Culture and Sports; Infrastructure and Participatory Social Development. Each of the newly appointed directors was instructed “to organize his new department and prepare a proposal to determine the economic cost of paying social security benefits, pensions and other entitlements of persons who as a result of this new organizational structure of the Public Administration of the State had become redundant …”. According to the Government, in January 2001, each Department informed those affected by the decree that their entitlements would be paid as soon as the necessary financing could be found. Persons employed in public works of the State were informed that in future the new Department of Infrastructure “would directly administer the execution of a series of works, with a view to reinstating the dismissed personnel, in accordance with the needs and wishes of the parties”. The Government reports that in order to respond to the situation of the dismissed workers, also in January 2001, a commission was created to carry out an investigation into the case with the aim of ensuring respect for the rights and guarantees enshrined in the Constitution of Venezuela. In addition, the Commission on Internal Policy, Justice and Human Rights requested the Office of the Attorney-General of the Republic to conduct an investigation into the case.
7. 742. According to information furnished by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the State of Trujillo, the reorganization was driven by the need for an efficient rationalization of the State’s resources, since prior to the reorganization 90 per cent of its own resources and those allocated by the central administration were for personnel costs which prevented it from undertaking the projects needed by various population groups in Trujillo who were suffering from deplorable deprivation, lacking even the most basic care and services.
8. 743. The Government also reports that the payment of the social benefit entitlements of the persons affected by the reorganization were paid as soon as the credits requested for the purpose were approved. Up to the date of submission of the Government’s observations, a total of 1,321 payments had been processed, approved and paid to the workers, and only seven workers’ cases remained to be settled.

C. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 744. The Committee observes that the present case refers to the mass dismissal of workers (3,500 according to the complainants, 1,328 according to the Government) in the context of a reorganization of various departments of the public administration in the regional government of the State of Trujillo. With respect to the Committee’s request for an explanation of the reasons for the measure, the Committee observes that, according to the Government, the administrative reorganization was driven by the need for an efficient rationalization of the state’s resources, in order to improve the situation of various population groups of Trujillo who were in a profound state of crisis and was based on provisions of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Constitution of the State of Trujillo and the State of Trujillo Political Regime Act. The Committee also observes that according to the Government, a total of 1,321 workers had accepted and received settlement of their entitlements and only seven cases remained to be settled.
2. 745. The Committee recalls that, according to the complainants, some of the dismissals effected in the context of the reorganization were in breach of the collective agreement in force with the workers and employees of state public works, in particular, its clause 51 which extended trade union immunity (labour stability) to all workers covered by the agreement and requires the application of a special procedure in the case of dismissals regulated by articles 449 and 451 of the Organic Labour Act which was not followed by the government of the State of Trujillo. However, the complainants do not indicate the number of dismissed workers covered by this collective agreement. The Committee notes with regret that the Government did not send its observations in this regard. Nevertheless, the Committee considers that bearing in mind the time elapsed since the dismissals (January 2001) and, given that a total of 1,321 workers have accepted and received their entitlements, it would be difficult to request reinstatement of all the workers covered by the collective agreement. The Committee requests the Government to ensure that the workers who were dismissed in violation of the collective agreement be reinstated in their posts, and if that is not possible, that they receive adequate entitlements. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in this respect.
3. 746. While noting the reasons for the reorganization, the Committee cannot fail to observe that the Government makes no reference to the holding of any consultations or negotiations whatsoever with the trade unions. In this regard, the Committee again recalls that it can only regret that in the rationalization and staff reduction process, the Government did not consult or try to reach an agreement with the trade union organizations [see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, 4th edition, 1996, para. 935 in fine], the more so when the dismissals are allegedly in breach of clauses of a collective agreement in force applicable to some of the workers affected. The Committee expects that in future reorganizations of the public sector, due consultation will be conducted with the relevant trade unions thus avoiding unilateral decisions imposed by decree and that collective agreements will be respected until their term expires.
4. 747. The Committee had requested the Government to indicate whether it had executed the six judicial rulings on labour stability mentioned in the criminal complaint submitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office on 17 July 2001 against the authorities of the Trujillo Health Foundation (FUNDASALUD) and the latter’s decision in the matter and to inform it of the result of the court proceedings in respect of the order of the Inspectorate of Labour to reinstate the workers of the former Department of State Public Works (now the Department of Infrastructure). The Committee had also requested information from the complainant organizations on these reinstatements. The Committee observes with regret that neither the Government nor the complainant organizations have sent information and again requests them to send information in this regard.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 748. In the light of its foregoing conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) The Committee expects that in future reorganizations of the public sector, the Government will conduct due consultations with the relevant trade unions thus avoiding unilateral decisions imposed by decree and will respect the collective agreements until their term expires.
   • (b) With respect to the mass dismissals of workers in the state of Trujillo, the Committee requests the Government to ensure that all workers who were dismissed in violation of the collective agreement be reinstated in their posts and if that is not possible that they receive adequate entitlements. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in this respect.
   • (c) The Committee again urges the Government to indicate whether it has executed the six judicial rulings on labour stability mentioned in the criminal complaint submitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office on 17 July 2001 against the authorities of the Trujillo Health Foundation (FUNDASALUD) and the latter’s decision in the matter and to inform it of the result of the court proceedings in respect of the order of the Inspectorate of Labour to reinstate the workers of the former Department of State Public Works (now the Department of Infrastructure).