Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 1991, publiée 78ème session CIT (1991)

Convention (n° 105) sur l'abolition du travail forcé, 1957 - Tunisie (Ratification: 1959)

Article 1(d) of the Convention. The Committee notes the provisions of the Act (No. 89-63) of 3 July 1989 issuing an amnesty, which was enclosed with the Government's report and which grants amnesty in particular to persons sentenced or on trial for violation of sections 387, 388 and 390 of the Labour Code, on which the Committee has been commenting for many years.

1. The Committee pointed out previously that under the Labour Code participation in a strike is illegal and can be punished by imprisonment involving, by virtue of section 13 of the Penal Code, compulsory labour in cases where the Government imposes arbitration, considering that a strike might endanger the national interest (sections 384-388 of the Labour Code); similarly, in cases where a strike is called in such circumstances, the workers may be requisitioned under penalty of imprisonment involving compulsory labour (sections 389 and 390 of the same Code). The Government stated that consultations were under way on a Bill to revise the Labour Code and that the proposal to replace the reference to the vital interest of the nation (section 384 of the Code) by the concept of services that are essential for the safety and well-being of the population had met with no objection from the departments concerned or the employers' and workers' central organisations.

The Committee notes that the Government's report contains no information on the progress of this work. It also notes that employees of the Tunisian Airports Office have been made liable for requisition by Decree No. 89-398 of 7 April 1989. The Committee reiterates the hope that recourse to compulsory arbitration and requisitioning, enforced by penalties involving compulsory labour, will be restricted to essential services whose interruption would endanger the life, personal safety and health of the whole or part of the population, and that the Government will be able to report in the near future that the Labour Code has been amended to this effect.

2. In its previous comments, the Committee also noted that by virtue of section 376bis of the Labour Code, inserted by Act No. 76-84 of 11 August 1976, read in conjunction with sections 387 and 388 of the same Code, strikes must be approved by the Central Workers' Organisation and that, in the event of this requirement not being fulfilled, the strike is deemed illegal and any person calling for its continuance or participating in it shall be liable to imprisonment involving, in accordance with section 13 of the Penal Code, compulsory labour. The Committee referred to the explanations in paragraphs 128-132 of its General Survey of 1979 on the Abolition of Forced Labour, in which it observes that certain strict requirements as regards the procedures for declaring or conducting a lawful strike fall within the scope of the Convention when they are enforced by sanctions involving compulsory work, and in which it refers in particular to legislation requiring a vote by a qualified majority vote before a strike is declared or authorising a single trade union to decide on the strike.

The Committee again trusts that the provisions in question will be re-examined in the light of the Convention and that the revised Labour Code will cease to allow penalties involving compulsory labour to be imposed for participation in a strike merely because it has not been approved by the Central Workers' Organisation.

The Committee hopes that the Government will shortly be able to report that progress has been made in this regard.

The Committee notes the provisions of Act No. 89-23 of 27 February 1989 to abolish the penalty of forced labour, which the Government enclosed with its report.