Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 344, March 2007

Case No 2249 (Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)) - Complaint date: 20-FEB-03 - Closed

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

1. 237. At its meeting in June 2006, the Committee made the following recommendations on the questions that were still pending [see 342nd Report, paras 200–203]:
2. – bearing in mind the importance of due process of law being respected, the Committee trusts that the trade union leader, Carlos Ortega, will be released without delay and requests the Government to send it the decision handed down by the authority hearing the appeal. The Committee also requests the Government to send it a copy of the sentence handed down by the court of first instance (with all the reasons and conclusions therefor) in respect of the trade union leader Carlos Ortega (the Confederation of Venezuela (CTV) has sent only a copy of the record of the public hearing at which the decision of the court and the sentence were made public);
3. – the Committee requests the Government to recognize FEDEUNEP and to take steps to ensure that it is not the object of discrimination in social dialogue and in collective bargaining, particularly in the light of the fact that it is affiliated to the Workers’ CTV – another organization that has encountered problems of recognition which the Committee has already examined in the context of this case. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any invitation it sends to FEDEUNEP in the context of social dialogue. The Committee recalls the principle that both the government authorities and employers should refrain from any discrimination between trade union organizations, especially as regards recognition of their leaders who seek to perform legitimate trade union activities [see Digest, 1996, para. 307];
4. – with regard to the dismissal of over 23,000 workers from PDVSA and its subsidiaries in 2003 for having taken part in a strike during the national civic work stoppage, the Committee notes the Government’s statements, and specifically that only 10 per cent of the appeals lodged with the labour inspectorate and other judicial authority have not yet been ruled upon. The Committee deeply regrets that the Government has disregarded its recommendation that it enter into negotiations with the most representative workers’ federations in order to find a solution to the dismissals at the PDVSA and its subsidiaries as a result of the organization of or participation in a strike during the national civic work stoppage. The Committee reiterates this recommendation;
5. – the Committee calls on the Government to take steps to vacate the detention orders against the officials and members of UNAPETROL, Horacio Medina, Edgar Quijano, Iván Fernández, Mireya Repanti, Gonzalo Feijoo, Juan Luis Santana and Lino Castillo, and to keep it informed in this respect;
6. – the Committee considers that the founders and members of UNAPETROL should be reinstated in their jobs since, in addition to the fact that they were participating in a civic work stoppage, they were dismissed while they were undergoing training;
7. – the Committee notes the Government’s statement that the appeal against the decision of the Minister of Labour denying UNAPETROL registration is currently before the Administrative Policy Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice and requests the Government to send it the text of the ruling handed down. In the meantime, and in order to avoid the registration of UNAPETROL being held up still further by possible appeals or judicial delay, the Committee once again calls on the Government to initiate direct contacts with the members of UNAPETROL, so as to find a solution to the matter of its registration and determine how the legal shortcomings referred to by the Government can be corrected;
8. – with regard to the alleged acts of violence by the military on 17 January 2003 against a group of workers from the PDVSA enterprise – leaders of the Beverage Industry Union of the State of Carabobo – who were protesting against the raiding of the enterprise and the confiscation of its assets, which was a threat to their source of work, the Committee notes that the complaints submitted by José Gallardo, Jhonathan Rivas, Juan Carlos Zavala and Ramón Díaz are currently under investigation and stresses that the allegations refer to the detention and torture of these workers, as well as of Faustino Villamediana. While regretting that the proceedings currently pending at the Office of the Attorney-General with respect to four workers have not been concluded despite the fact that the events go back to December 2002 or January 2003, the Committee firmly hopes that the authorities will rapidly conclude the investigations and requests the Government to keep it informed of any decision that is taken;
9. – the Committee requests the Government to send it the decision adopted by the labour inspectorate regarding the reassessment of the dismissal of trade unionist Gustavo Silva and draws attention to the delays in the conduct of these proceedings;
10. – with regard to the dismissal of FEDEUNEP trade unionist Cecilia Palma, the Committee requests the Government to inform it whether she has appealed against the ruling of 1 September 2003 and, if so, to keep it informed of the outcome of her appeal; and
11. – in general, the Committee deeply regrets the excessive delay in the administration of justice with regard to several aspects of this case and emphasizes that justice delayed is justice denied and that this situation prevents the trade unions and their members from exercising their rights effectively.
12. 238. In its communication of 16 August 2006, the Government refers to the request for information concerning the administrative appeal calling for decision No. 2932 of 16 October 2003 of the Minister of Labour to be found void on the grounds that it is unconstitutional and unlawful.
13. 239. In this respect, the Government provides a copy of the ruling of the Administrative Policy Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, dated 16 May 2006, which holds that the administrative appeal to find decision No. 2932 unconstitutional and unlawful, lodged on 3 November 2003 by the legal representatives of citizens Jorge Rodríguez, Edgar Quijano, José Alejandro Richter, Antonio Méndez, Marianella Castillo de Piñero and Víctor Ramos, and of the self-styled “National Union of Oil, Gas, Petrochemical and Refinery Workers (UNAPETROL) trade union organization”, has exceeded the time limits for all legal purposes and that the appeal is therefore out of time.
14. 240. The Government indicates that the finding that the appeal was out of time was the result of an application filed on 21 September 2005 by the legal representatives of the Office of the Attorney-General. Such an application for the limitation of a legal action is based on the grounds that the parties concerned have been inactive, that there has been no further procedural activity to maintain the action for a period of over one year. Time limits are a legal mechanism intended to prevent legal actions from being perpetuated over time and judicial bodies are under the obligation to resolve the status of legal actions in which the parties show no further interest. The ruling, which is appended, is based on section 267 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which provides that “Any legal action shall be barred where one year has elapsed without any procedural activity by the parties …”.
15. 241. The Government adds that the administrative appeal to find decision No. 2932 unconstitutional and unlawful, lodged on 3 November 2003 by the legal representatives of Jorge Rodríguez, Edgar Quijano, et al., lapsed as there was no activity by the plaintiffs for over one year (there was no activity between 8 September 2004 and 21 September 2005), on which grounds the representative of the Office of the Attorney-General of the Republic filed an application for the appeal to be barred, based on section 267 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
16. 242. With regard to the appeal filed by UNAPETROL against the decision by the Minister of Labour refusing to register the organization, the Committee notes the Government’s statements that the Administrative Policy Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, ruling on the application filed by the legal representative of the Office of the Attorney-General of the Republic in accordance with the law, found on 16 May 2006 that the appeal was out of time as the plaintiffs had been inactive (there had been no activity to maintain the appeal for a period of over one year). The Committee is nevertheless bound to regret that the Government has not given effect to the recommendation made at its meeting in June 2006 calling on the Government “to initiate direct contacts with the members of UNAPETROL, so as to find a solution to the matter of its registration and determine how the legal shortcomings referred to by the Government can be corrected” [see 342nd Report, para. 203].
17. 243. Finally, the Committee regrets to note once again that, despite the seriousness of this case, and with the exception of the point examined in the previous paragraph, the Government has not provided information on the other recommendations that it made previously. The Committee accordingly reiterates those recommendations and urges the Government to give effect to them on an urgent basis and without delay so that the Committee can examine all the questions that are still pending in full knowledge of the facts.