Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 342, June 2006

Case No 2385 (Costa Rica) - Complaint date: 26-JUL-04 - Closed

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

1. 101. At its November 2005 meeting, the Committee made the following recommendations on the pending questions concerning the process of collective bargaining between the National Registry and the union SINTRARENA [see 338th Report, para. 821]:
2. – The Committee regrets that the opening of discussions between the parties was delayed by seven months from the submission of the list of claims in October 2002 due to the delay by the Commission on Bargaining Policy in issuing the bargaining directives and requests the Government to take measures to ensure that the said body issues its directives in a reasonable time.
3. – The Committee observes that it is apparent from the documentation sent by the complainant organizations and the Government that the Commission on Bargaining Policy did not authorize a large number of draft clauses presented by the trade union for the purposes of negotiation, invoking the principle of legality. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the decisions of the Commission on Bargaining Policy can be appealed to the judicial authority or to an independent body.
4. – The Committee suggests that the Government should seek ILO technical assistance to accelerate the dispute settlement mechanisms for collective bargaining in the public sector.
5. – The Committee requests the Government to send it full information on the possible signing of the document sent by the Ministry of Justice to the trade union and invites the complainant organizations to explain the reasons why the trade union has not yet signed it.
6. 102. In its communication of 24 February 2006, the Government states that a collective agreement between the National Registry and the union SINTRARENA was signed on 29 April 2005. The Government adds that it has informed the Commission on Bargaining Policy for the Negotiation of Collective Agreements in the Public Sector of the recommendations of the Committee on Freedom of Association, and hopes that, as the Committee suggests, the Commission’s directives will be issued in a reasonable time. The Government has requested the Commission on Bargaining Policy to indicate whether its decisions can be appealed to a judicial or independent body, and to inform the Committee once the Commission has submitted its observations. The Government states that it has received ILO technical assistance for which a member of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations has been responsible.
7. 103. The Committee takes note of this information and awaits the new information referred to by the Government regarding the possibility of appealing against the decisions of the Commission on Bargaining Policy.