Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2025, Publicación: 114ª reunión CIT (2026)

Convenio sobre el derecho de sindicación y de negociación colectiva, 1949 (núm. 98) - Samoa (Ratificación : 2008)

Articles 1, 2 and 4 of the Convention. Legislative matters. The Committee recalls that it had previously expected that the Labour and Employment Relations Act 2013 (LERA) would be amended, taking into due account the Committee’s observations, in order to: (i) prohibit all acts of anti-union discrimination and interference and provide for effective and expeditious procedures of redress and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions; and (ii) recognize the right to collective bargaining to all workers, including outsourced workers and workers without employment contract, and that the regulations referred to in section 83(2)(q) of LERA would be adopted without delay to ensure the effective exercise of the right to collective bargaining. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that: (i) the Labour and Employment Relations Amendment Act (LERAA) was adopted on 27 January 2023 and entered into force on 5 February 2024; (ii) the LERAA recognizes the right of workers to collective bargaining and prohibits acts of anti-union discrimination and interference; and (iii) the LERAA recognizes in particular the right to collective bargaining of outsourced workers and workers without employment contracts by placing them within the scope of the LERA. The Committee, however, also notes the Government’s indication that neither procedures of redress and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions for anti-union discrimination and interference nor the regulations referred to in section 83(2)(q) of the LERA, which should further provide the effective exercise of the right to collective bargaining, have been adopted or developed. The Committee therefore reiterates its previous request to amend the LERA with a view to providing procedures of redress and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions for anti-union discrimination and interference and requests the Government to adopt without delay regulations referred to in section 83(2)(q) of LERA to ensure the effective exercise of the right to collective bargaining.

Article 4. Promotion of collective bargaining in practice. The Committee had previously requested the Government to take active measures for the effective promotion of collective bargaining in all the sectors of the economy. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, while there are no registered collective agreements in force at the national level, there is a collective agreement managed by the Samoa Shipping Services (SSS), which applies to international seafarers from Samoa working aboard foreign-flagged vessels. The Committee welcomes the launch of a nationwide awareness campaign in February 2025, aimed at educating employers and workers about their right to participate in collective bargaining and promoting local collective agreements. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on further developments in this regard and trusts that the technical assistance of the Office, requested by the Government in this respect will be provided in the near future.