Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Seychelles (Ratification: 1978)

Article 1(d) of the Convention. Sanctions for participation in strikes. The Committee previously requested the Government to amend section 56(1) of the Industrial Relations Act 1991 (IRA) according to which participation in an unlawful strike or lockout is punished with a fine and imprisonment for a term of six months. Prison sentences involve an obligation to perform labour, in accordance with section 28(1) of the Prison Act 1991. It also referred to section 52(4) of the IRA which provides that the competent Minister is allowed to declare a strike to be unlawful if he or she is of the opinion that its continuance would endanger, among other things, the “public order or the national economy”.

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report regarding the procedures carried out since 2019, with the technical assistance of the ILO, to revise the provisions of the IRA and bring them into line with the international obligations of Seychelles. The Government indicates that the finalized draft law, which removes the sanction of imprisonment as a punishment for peaceful participation in strikes, has been endorsed by the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs and is pending national validation. The Committee expresses the firm hope that the draft law which removes the penalty of imprisonment for participation in strikes from the Industrial Relations Act will be adopted without delay in order to bring the national legislation into conformity with Article 1(d) of the Convention. The Committee also refers in this regard to its comments under the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87).