Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 353, March 2009

Case No 2500 (Botswana) - Complaint date: 12-JUN-06 - Closed

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

1. 63. The Committee last examined this case – which concerns allegations of the dismissal of 461 employees and union members for having engaged in strike action, the dismissal of four union officials, interference by the employer in the union’s internal affairs, and the failure of the Government to provide adequate dispute resolution procedures and intervene in the dispute between the Botswana Mine Workers’ Union (BMWU) and the Debswana Mining Company – at its May–June 2008 meeting. On that occasion the Committee, noting that the cases concerning the 461 dismissed employees and the four dismissed union officials were pending before the Industrial Court, reiterated its expectation that the Industrial Court would bear in mind the principles of freedom of association cited in its previous conclusions when considering the appeal of the four union officials [see 350th Report, paras 35–38].
2. 64. In a communication of 22 August 2008, the Government transmits a copy of an 8 February 2008 decision of the Industrial Court, in which the Court denied the BMWU’s application for condonation of the late filing of its statement of case regarding the dismissal of 461 of its members.
3. 65. The Committee takes due note of the 8 February 2008 Industrial Court decision. It notes in particular that, in denying the BMWU’s application for condonation of the late filing of its statement of case, the Court found, inter alia, that the BMWU had failed to submit its application within a reasonable time period following the initial failure to submit the statement of case, and had also failed to demonstrate any prospect of success on the merits of the underlying case, e.g. the dismissal of 461 of its members. Noting that a case concerning the dismissal of four BMWU officials was still pending before the Industrial Court, the Committee once again expresses the expectation that the Industrial Court will bear in mind the principles of freedom of association cited in its previous conclusions when considering the appeal of the four union officials [see 346th Report, para. 331] and requests the Government to transmit the judgement as soon as it is rendered.