Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 391, October 2019

Case No 3279 (Ecuador) - Complaint date: 15-MAY-17 - Follow-up

Allegations: the complainant alleges that the Government has been attacking the UNE for almost a decade, culminating in its administrative dissolution in 2016

1. 253. The complaint is contained in a communication from the National Union of Educators (UNE) dated 15 May 2017.
2. 254. The Government submitted its observations in communications dated 28 February and 24 October 2018.
3. 255. Ecuador 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. The complainant’s allegations

1. 256. In its communication dated 15 May 2017, the UNE, the complainant indicates that it is an organization that has united teachers since 1944 and that has a broad history of defending education and the rights of education workers. It states that in 2009, the Government tried to implement a system of teacher evaluation that provided for potential loss of employment and that, since the Government had refused dialogue on the matter, the UNE called a national stoppage that ended after several weeks, when the potential loss of employment for teachers was eliminated. The complainant alleges that since then, the Government has taken actions against it with a view to damaging public opinion against it, through campaigns of persecution, making use of the national radio, press and television channels, condemning its trade union activities.
2. 257. The complainant alleges that the Government has refused to register its national leadership, elected in November 2013, as well as the leadership in the 23 provinces where it has branches. The complainant states that registration was denied on the basis of supposed failures and that it has responded to each of them. The complainant also alleges that its leaders do not have union leave or collect union dues, an issue that was raised in Case No. 2755, the recommendations from which the Government has not complied with. The complainant states that administrative proceedings have been brought against teachers and leaders, they have been dismissed, transferred or had their working hours reduced or increased excessively. They also state that Ms Mery Zamora, former president of the UNE, has been subjected to criminal persecution by the public authorities. The complainant adds that in 2015, the Ministry of Education created a parallel organization, called the “Teachers’ Network for a Revolution in Education” and that the Government has pressured teachers to leave the UNE and join the new union.
3. 258. The complainant alleges that, faced with the continued refusal by the authorities to register its leadership, the teachers themselves convened an extraordinary conference on 14 May 2016 to restart the process of registering its leadership and that, in July 2016, on the basis of Executive Order No. 16, the Undersecretariat of Education began the process for the administrative dissolution of the UNE, declaring it dissolved in a resolution dated 18 August 2016. The complainant indicates that, with a view to beginning the process of liquidating its assets, the national police raided and occupied the UNE’s union headquarters. They also state that a liquidation committee was set up which dismissed the workers, sold the buildings and blocked the current accounts containing teachers’ retirement money. The complainant notes that, prior to this, it had lodged an administrative appeal and an extraordinary protection order, which was denied. They also state that the Government appropriated US$400 million from the Ecuadorian Teaching Profession Pension Fund, bringing it under the administration of the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute Bank, unjustifiably interfering in the activities, property and administration of the fund, which it had set up in 1991.

B. The Government’s reply

1. 259. In its communications dated 28 February and 24 October 2018, the Government states that the UNE is a social organization and not a trade union organization, and that the Ministry of Labour does not have the competence or jurisdiction to repeal the act of dissolution issued by the Ministry of Education. It notes that, without prejudice to the foregoing, as part of its commitment to dialogue, contacts have been made between the Ministry of Labour and the lawyer for the UNE to explore alternatives to the dissolution and liquidation of the organization and that in those meetings it was noted that an administrative appeal against the administrative act of dissolution was pending.
2. 260. The Government reports that, in October 2017, Decree No. 16 was repealed, which was one of the legal grounds for the dissolution of the UNE, and Executive Decree No. 193 was drawn up in its place, which reduced the requirements for obtaining legal personality for social organizations. The Government also states that, as a result of Constitutional Court ruling No. 018-18-SIN-CC (1 August 2018), public sector workers became subject to the Labour Code, and thereby entitled to establish trade unions. The Government reports that it has invited the UNE to begin the administrative process of registering as a trade union with the Ministry of Labour. The Government also states that it promotes tripartite dialogue and agreement and that, as a result of this opening of dialogue, the UNE has begun the process of registering its social organizations in various provinces around the country, through seven regional branches: 42 of the UNE’s social organizations have been registered and 28 are still in the process of being registered.

C. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 261. The Committee observes that in this case the complainant alleges that the Government has been attacking the UNE for almost a decade, culminating in its administrative dissolution in 2016.
2. 262. The Committee notes that, according to the complainant: (i) since 2009, when the UNE called a strike to protest the system of teacher evaluation that the Government wanted to implement, the Government began a campaign to discredit the organization, refusing to register its leadership, bringing administrative proceedings against teachers and leaders, ordering dismissals, transfers and even bringing criminal proceedings; (ii) in 2015, the Government created a parallel teachers’ union and pressured teachers to leave the UNE and join the new union; and (iii) in July 2016, the Ministry of Education declared the UNE dissolved for supposed failure to comply with its own statute and appointed a liquidation committee which dismissed the workers, sold the buildings, blocked the accounts and also brought the Teaching Profession Pension Fund under the administration of the Social Security Institute Bank. The Committee notes that, according to the information provided, the UNE lodged an administrative appeal and an extraordinary protection order, which was denied. The Committee also notes that it is alleged that the UNE does not collect union dues, which was the subject of Case No. 2755, the recommendations from which the Government has not complied with [see 359th Report of the Committee on Freedom of Association, paras 52–55].
3. 263. The Committee notes that, for its part, the Government states that: (i) the UNE is a social organization and not a trade union organization, and the Ministry of Labour does not have the competence or jurisdiction to repeal the act of dissolution issued by the Ministry of Education; (ii) without prejudice to the foregoing, contacts have been made between the Ministry of Labour and the lawyer for the UNE to explore alternatives to the dissolution and liquidation of the UNE and they are expecting a pending administrative appeal; (iii) in October 2017, Decree No. 16 was repealed, which was one of the legal grounds for the dissolution of the UNE, and Executive Decree No. 193 was drawn up in its place, which reduced the requirements for obtaining legal personality for social organizations, and (iv) the Ministry of Labour has invited the UNE to begin the administrative process of registering as a trade union with the Ministry of Labour and as of April 2018 the UNE had registered 42 social organizations around the country and 28 were in the process of being registered.
4. 264. The Committee observes that, according to the information provided by the complainant and by the Government, the act of dissolution of the UNE issued by the Ministry of Education in 2016 has not been repealed. It also notes that the legal proceedings brought by the UNE with a view to repealing said act of dissolution have not been successful: (i) according to the complainant, an extraordinary protection order was rejected, and (ii) according to publicly available information, the case brought before the Administrative Tribunal was closed on 20 September 2017.
5. 265. The Committee also observes that, according to publicly available information, the UNE liquidation committee has finished its work and on 25 April 2019 the Ministry of Education sent a copy of the committee’s report to the people who had been the leaders of the UNE at the time of its dissolution. The Committee observes that the Ministry of Education should have returned the property that had been seized from the UNE to those leaders and asked them to determine what to do with it, since it belongs to an organization that is still in the process of liquidation.
6. 266. While duly noting that the Government states that it is open to dialogue and agreement, the Committee regrets to observe that, according to the foregoing information, the UNE, as a national organization, remains dissolved. Observing that, in its reply, the Government has simply stated that the Ministry of Labour does not have the competence or jurisdiction for the act of dissolution, since it was an act issued by the Ministry of Education, the Committee emphasizes that teachers, like all other workers, should benefit from the right to freedom of association [see: Compilation, op. cit., para. 362] and that it is not only the Ministry of Labour that is obliged to guarantee respect for that right, but all the authorities and institutions in the country. The Committee also observes that the dissolution at issue in this case affected the largest teachers’ union in the country, which had been working on education issues and defending the interests of workers in that sector for over 70 years, and that its administrative dissolution meant not only the disappearance of the organization in its entirety, but also the loss of the various benefits and agreements that had been made throughout the organization’s history
7. 267. In addition, noting that the UNE has been registering organizations in various provinces around the country and that the Government states that it has invited the UNE to begin the administrative process of registering as a trade union with the Ministry of Labour again, the Committee trusts that the necessary measures will be taken to ensure that this happens, if the UNE so requests. The Committee further urges the Government to take all necessary measures to ensure the full return of the property seized from the organization as well as the elimination of any other consequences resulting from the administrative dissolution of the UNE. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in that respect.
8. 268. Lastly, with regard to the allegation that the Government has not implemented the recommendations made in response to Case No. 2755 relating to the collection of union dues, the Committee recalls that those recommendations remain fully in force.

The Committee’s recommendation

1. 269. In the light of its foregoing conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendation:
   • The Committee trusts that the necessary measures will be taken to ensure that the UNE can register as a trade union with the Ministry of Labour, if the organization so requests. The Committee further urges the Government to take all necessary measures to ensure the full return of the property seized from the organization as well as the elimination of any other consequences resulting from the administrative dissolution of the UNE. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in this respect.