Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Right of Association (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 (No. 11) - Mauritius (Ratification: 1969)

The Committee notes the Employment Relations (Amendment) Act 2013. The Committee also notes the Government’s explanation in reply to its request for information concerning the recent significant decrease in the number of workers belonging to trade unions catering for agricultural workers.

The Committee had previously noted that, under section 2 of the Employment Relations Act, the definition of the term “worker” refers to work under a contract of employment or apprenticeship with an employer by way of casual work, manual labour, clerical work or otherwise and however remunerated. It had requested the Government to indicate the legal provisions that grant trade union rights to self-employed workers in the agricultural sector. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that there is no legal provision in the current labour legislation granting trade union rights to self-employed workers in the agricultural or any other sector in Mauritius. The Committee recalls that the right of association guaranteed by the Convention applies to all persons engaged in agriculture, including independent workers, tenants, sharecroppers and smallholders. The Committee requests the Government to ensure including through legislative measures that self-employed workers in the agricultural sector, in particular agricultural workers working on medium-sized and smallholder farms, enjoy the same rights of association and combination as industrial workers, including the rights to form and join trade unions and to conclude collective agreements.