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Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body
Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body- 86. The Committee last examined this case concerning legislative shortcomings (denial or restriction of the rights to organize and bargain collectively to public sector workers, private sector teachers, agricultural workers, workers in the informal sector, migrant workers and temporary, agency or other subcontracted workers; insufficient protection against acts of anti-union discrimination; difficulty to bargain collectively; and denial of the right to strike to public sector workers); acts of anti-union discrimination, interference, harassment and other anti-union practices in a number of enterprises and the Government’s failure to protect the workers at its October 2016 meeting [see 380th Report, paras 977–1064]. On that occasion, the Committee made the following recommendations [see 380th Report, para. 1064]:
- (a) The Committee urges the Government to take concrete measures to speed up the revision process of the LRA and the SELRA in order to align the applicable legislation with the principles of freedom of association and collective bargaining and to ensure that all issues raised by the Committee in this case as well as in Case No. 1581 are properly addressed. The Committee reminds the Government that it can avail itself of ILO technical assistance in this regard and requests the Government to keep it informed of any developments in this respect and to provide it with the text of the amendments to the LRA and the SELRA.
- (b) With regard to the allegations of insufficient protection against anti-union discrimination and anti-union practices in various enterprises, as well as the Government’s failure to protect the workers, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that workers are effectively protected against acts of anti-union discrimination at all times, both in law and in practice, and that this protection covers all legitimate trade union activities, including those relative to the establishment of workers’ organizations.
- 87. In its communication dated 20 September 2018, the Government indicates that the Ministry of Labour has drafted amendments to the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and the State Enterprise Labour Relations Act (SELRA) and that the approval of the National Legislative Assembly and the subsequent promulgation of the new legislation is anticipated by the end of 2018.
- 88. The Government indicates, in particular, that the main points of the SELRA revision are the following: state enterprise employers/executives are entitled to lock out, while employees are entitled to strike according to the rules and methods stipulated by law. Employers or workers who want to lock out or strike need to notify the conciliation officer and the other party in writing at least 24 hours in advance, starting from the time that the conciliation officer and the other party have been notified. If the lockout or the strike is to be attempted by a public services provider, as prescribed in the notification of the Committee of State Enterprise Labour Relations, registered in the Government Gazette, the party responsible for the lockout or the strike must provide minimum services to minimize damages to public order that may result from the lockout or strike. As for the LRA, according to the Government: (a) the definition of worker includes subcontracted workers that are part of the production process or business operations of the employer. The provision enables subcontracted workers to join the trade union of the establishment they are working for; (b) a new provision allows migrant workers to join a union as committee members; (c) the existing provision regarding workers’ protection from unfair treatment during the establishment of a trade union is amended; (d) a new provision has been introduced on the establishment of a Labour Relations Promotion Committee to provide observations and recommendations to employers’ and workers’ organizations on measures or guidelines to appropriately solve labour issues on the basis of integrity and the promotion of a labour relations system; (e) the definition of unfair treatment is expanded to include career transfer, wage reduction, and no job assignment. The new provision further prevents anti-union discrimination by prohibiting employers from locking-out workers responsible for launching a complaint or other workers partially responsible for a complaint; and (f) a new provision is also introduced to enhance law enforcement against unfair treatments, that is to say, a provision that Labour Court proceedings shall not be a reason to subvert the Labour Relations Committee’s order.
- 89. The Government further states that the Ministry of Labour organized a meeting of the working group on International Labour Standards on 2 August 2018 to discuss the major obstacles in aligning the national legislation with the principles of the ILO’s fundamental Conventions. During the meeting, participants from the Office of the Civil Service Commission (OCSC) acknowledged the principle of the right to organize and collectively bargain and agreed to take it into consideration and come up with appropriate measures.
- 90. The Committee notes with interest the detailed information provided by the Government on the proposed amendments to the LRA and the SELRA and notes that these amendments should expand protection of workers against anti-union discrimination and unfair treatment. Recalling that it has been examining the conformity of the LRA and the SELRA with the principles of freedom of association since 1991 (Case No. 1581) and had previously expressed concern at the prolonged period of revision of the laws [see 333rd Report, para. 137], the Committee trusts that these legislative amendments will be adopted without delay and requests the Government to keep it informed of any developments in this regard and to provide a copy of the revised LRA and SELRA once adopted.
