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

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Nicaragua (Ratification: 1967)

Complaint under article 26 of the ILO Constitution

The Committee recalls that at its 349th Session, in October 2023, the Governing Body declared receivable a complaint made under article 26 of the Constitution by a group of Employer delegates to the International Labour Conference in 2023, alleging non-observance by Nicaragua of this Convention, as well as of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), and the Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144). The Committee notes that at its 350th Session, in March 2024, the Governing Body: (i) noted the deep concern of the Committee and the Committee on the Application of Standards of the Conference (hereinafter the Conference Committee) in their latest examination of the implementation by the Government of Nicaragua of the Conventions that are the subject of the article 26 complaint; (ii) urged the Government to address, as a matter of urgency, the serious compliance gaps identified and to accept ILO technical assistance to that effect; (iii) requested the Government and the social partners to provide detailed information on all the issues raised in the complaint to the 352nd Session (October-November 2024); and (iv) deferred to its 352nd Session the decision to consider further action in respect of the article 26 complaint, in light of the follow-up given to the above.

The Committee also notes that, at its 352nd Session in October–November 2024, the Governing Body: (i) reiterated the deep concern expressed by the Committee and by the Conference Committee in their latest examination of the implementation by the Government of Nicaragua of the Conventions that are the subject of the article 26 complaint; (ii) deplored the lack of meaningful engagement of the Government, and the fact that it had responded to none of the Office communications and had not provided the information requested by the Governing Body; (iii) urged the Government to address the issues raised in the complaint as a matter of urgency; (iv) called on the Government to respond to the Office communications and to provide the information requested since the 350th Session (March 2024) of the Governing Body as soon as possible; and (v) decided to send a high-level tripartite mission to assess the issues raised in the complaint, and to provide a full report to the Governing Body at its 353rd Session (March 2025) and to defer the decision on further action in accordance with article 26 of the Constitution to that session.

Article 4 the Convention. Promotion of free and voluntary collective bargaining. In its previous comment, the Committee hoped that the Government would continue taking measures to strengthen the promotion of collective bargaining in all sectors, including export processing zones, and requested the Government to provide fuller information on the collective agreements signed and in force for all private sector and public sector activities. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that from 2021 until the first quarter of 2024, 191 collective agreements were signed covering 348,883 workers, 188,743 of whom are women. Of these collective agreements, 19 concern the country’s export processing zones, benefiting 67,596 workers, 36,728 of whom are women.

While taking note of the statistical information provided and the Government’s intention to further promote collective bargaining in general, the Committee observes that in 2023 and 2024, in the context of the examination of the application of Convention No. 87 by the Conference Committee, it was mentioned that the legal status of 19 employers’ organizations, including the umbrella organization, the Higher Council for Private Enterprise of Nicaragua (COSEP), had been annulled through Ministerial Decisions Nos 26/2023 and 27/2023 of the Minister of the Interior. The Committee notes that, on that basis, the Conference Committee urged the Government in the strongest terms to ensure that workers and employers can establish their own organizations and operate without interference, and, in this regard, that COSEP, Nicaragua’s most representative employers’ organization, can again operate without previous authorization, in accordance with Article 2 of the said Convention. The Committee recalls that by virtue of Article 4 of the present Convention, the right to collective bargaining rests with workers’ organizations and employers and their organizations. The Committee recalls that it has consistently stressed that the unjustified refusal to recognize the most representative organizations may impair the promotion and development of free and voluntary collective bargaining within the meaning of the Convention. The Committee therefore urges the Government, with a view to promoting free and voluntary collective bargaining in all sectors and at all levels, to take all necessary measures to enable both workers and employers to freely determine the organizations that represent them in the conduct of collective bargaining. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the specific action taken in this regard. The Committee also requests the Government to continue providing information on the collective agreements signed and in force, specifying those relating to the private sector, in particular in export processing zones, and those relating to the public sector, and indicating the number of workers they cover.