Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 1998, Publicación: 87ª reunión CIT (1999)

Convenio sobre las relaciones de trabajo en la administración pública, 1978 (núm. 151) - Uruguay (Ratificación : 1989)

The Committee notes the Government's report and its comments on the report presented by the Confederation of State Officers' Organizations (COFE) in June 1997.

Article 4 of the Convention. The Committee notes COFE's statement that, during 1997, several incidents of trade union persecution occurred in the public service. In particular, COFE states that disciplinary measures had been taken against trade union leaders of the Federation of Public Health Employees and the Federation of Highway Workers by the administrative authority, including the non-payment of wages and transfers for reasons of exercising trade union activities. The Committee notes the Government's statement to the effect that, in respect of the allegations made, the administrative authorities have decided not to continue with the disciplinary proceedings. In respect of the allegations of transfers of trade union leaders as reprisals for their trade union activities, the Committee notes that the COFE has not provided sufficient detail in this respect (the number of employees affected, the dates of transfers and the names of institutions in which the transfers occurred) upon which an assessment of these allegations can be made.

Article 7 of the Convention. The Committee notes COFE's statement that, on 1 January 1996, Parliament adopted Act No. 16736 issuing the budget, which affects the working conditions of thousands of officials. In particular, COFE raises objections to certain provisions relating to staff and job redundancies and the establishment of a system of quotas for qualifications. COFE also states that the Act establishes a permanent Industrial Relations Committee for the central administration and other public bodies. COFE expresses objections to the composition of this body and also states that although the permanent Industrial Relations Committee has the responsibility of advising on wage issues, in practice, the representatives of the executive have refused to cover other matters related to conditions of employment. COFE also asserts that the functioning of this committee has proved to be totally inoperative.

In this respect, the Committee notes that the Government states that Act No. 16736 of 5 January 1996, issuing the budget, has contributed significantly to public sector reforms. In particular, the Government states that, as part of the reform process and subsequent to the passing of the above Act, many decrees have been issued whose purpose is to restructure the central administration, the system of evaluating performance, the system of promotion, the highly specialized functions and redundancies schemes. In this respect, the Committee notes the Government's indication that the process of public sector reforms is in conformity with the Constitution and the laws of the Republic and that it has involved those concerned in a "permanent dialogue" with public officials. The Government does not, however, detail the process which gave rise to the adoption of the above Act and decrees, which modify certain conditions of employment and careers for public officials. Moreover, the Committee also notes that neither COFE nor the Government have indicated whether consultations were held with sectoral trade union organizations prior to the adoption of the Act.

In these circumstances, the Committee recalls that Article 7 of the Convention provides that appropriate measures shall be taken, where necessary, to encourage and promote the full development and utilization of machinery for negotiation of terms and conditions of employment between the public authorities concerned and the public employees' organizations, or of other such methods as will allow representatives of public employees to participate in the determination of these matters.

Moreover, the Committee notes that, in respect of COFE criticisms concerning the composition, scope and failure of the permanent Industrial Relations Committee to function properly, the Government: (1) emphasizes that the above-mentioned committee has responsibility for advising on and providing information on salaries and other matters covered by international labour Conventions. The Government states that, for example, in matters pertaining to wages, public sector workers' representatives prepared a report on the evolution of salaries in real terms from 1985 to 1996 and presented it to the above-mentioned committee, which also received a similar report produced by the executive's experts; (2) details its participation in resolving various conflicts and states that the above-mentioned committee has acted with regard to various public organizations and institutions and has contributed to restoring dialogue and labour relations and provides other such examples; and (3) states that public sector employees are addressing several issues to the permanent Industrial Relations Committee which had been addressed to the Sectoral Committee on State Reform but were subsequently withdrawn.

The Committee considers firstly that the composition of the permanent committee (five members: two representatives of the executive, one from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and one from the Office of Planning and Budget, two representatives from the most representative organizations of public officials and one from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security), which is de facto a joint committee, appears to be unsatisfactory due to an imbalance between the representatives of the authorities and the most representative trade union organizations. However, according to the comments made by COFE, it appears not to enjoy the confidence of these organizations. In these circumstances, the Committee requests the Government to examine the possibility of modifying the composition of the permanent Industrial Relations Committee and to inform it accordingly.

Secondly, the Committee notes that, in accordance with section 739 of Act No. 16736, the competence of the permanent Industrial Relations Committee is not restricted to advising on matters of wages, but also covers "advising on conditions of employment and matters covered by international labour Conventions". However, in the Committee's view, the broader statutory competence which appears to be restricted in practice to providing advice on conditions of employment and mediation is unsatisfactory.

Finally, the Committee notes that in a previous direct request it had noted that the Government had provided assurances to the effect that a number of important collective agreements had been concluded in public institutions. In this respect, the Committee requests the Government to inform it, in its next report, on the procedures which enable public employees' representatives to participate in determining the terms and conditions of employment for public employees, as well as their contents and the territorial and personal scope of the collective agreements concluded in the public administration during the period covered by the report.