Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 358, November 2010

Case No 2592 (Tunisia) - Complaint date: 17-SEP-07 - Closed

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

1. 103. The Committee last examined this case at its November 2009 meeting. The case concerns the refusal by the authorities to recognize the representativeness of the General Federation of Higher Education and Scientific Research (FGESRS), anti-union discrimination against union leaders because of their union activities, and violations of the principles of collective bargaining [see 355th Report, paras 132–136]. On that occasion, the Committee trusted that final court rulings would be handed down very soon on the following cases: (1) the claim for nullity of the dissolution of the general unions of the Higher Education by the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) unifying congress of 15 July 2006 (Case No. 71409/28 before the Court of First Instance of Tunis); (2) the legitimate representation of the General Trade Union of Higher Education and Scientific Research (SGESRS) ; and (3) the assault against the trade unionist Moez Ben Jabeur.
2. 104. In a communication dated 27 April 2010, the Government sent a copy of the following court rulings handed down by the Tunis Court on 13 January 2010: a ruling rejecting the claim for nullity of the decision to dissolve the SGESRS taken by the UGTT unifying congress of 15 July 2006 (Case No. 71409/28) and a ruling rejecting the claim for nullity of the proceedings of the extraordinary congress held to establish the FGESRS to replace the SGESRS (Case No. 71888/28). The Committee notes these court rulings and observes that the issue of legitimate representation of the SGESRS has been resolved by the latter judgment. It invites the Government to keep it informed of any action taken pursuant to the abovementioned rulings, and in particular to indicate whether any appeals have been lodged against them and the outcome of such appeals.
3. 105. As regards the assault against the trade unionist Moez Ben Jabeur, the Government states that it will send any court ruling handed down in this case, but points out that no complaint or appeal has been found. The Committee notes this information and recalls that during the previous examination of the case, it had noted that Mr Moez Ben Jabeur had been assaulted by the Director of the Tunis Preparatory Engineering Institute, for which a complaint for assault and battery had been filed with the Attorney-General of the Court of First Instance of Tunis under file No. 7005283/2007 of 25 January 2007 [see 350th Report, para. 1582]. The Committee requests the Government to ensure that the judicial proceeding is rapidly concluded and to keep it informed in that respect.
4. 106. Lastly, the Government states that it has taken steps to develop objective criteria to determine the representativeness of the social partners pursuant to section 39 of the Labour Code, including collecting information on foreign legislation on the subject and seeking technical assistance from the International Labour Office. The Government indicates that in the absence of pre-established criteria, in the event of disputes concerning trade union representativity, it is the number of members which determines representativeness for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Committee notes this information and requests the Government to keep it informed of any progress in this regard.