Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2003, publiée 92ème session CIT (2004)

Convention (n° 87) sur la liberté syndicale et la protection du droit syndical, 1948 - Chypre (Ratification: 1966)

The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s report.

In its previous comments, the Committee had insisted on the need to amend sections 79A and 79B of the Defence Regulations which grant the Council of Ministers discretionary power to prohibit strikes in the services that they considered essential. The Committee recalled that strikes can only be prohibited in essential services in the strict sense of the term, namely services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. In its previous reports, the Government had indicated that discussions on the right to strike in essential services had been continuing between a ministerial committee and the trade unions and that, as a result, it decided to introduce a framework law which would be confined to defining "essential services" and "minimum services", and which would bind the parties to a labour dispute in an essential service to follow for settlement, a procedure which would be defined and agreed upon by them. The Committee recalls in this respect that the Government has, over the last ten years, been referring to the review of its legislation in consultation with the social partners but that, according to the Government, the trade unions disagreed, in particular on the method for achieving this reform.

In its report, the Government reiterates that a framework law has been drafted. The draft limits itself to defining "essential services" and "minimum services" and would bind the parties to a dispute in an essential service to follow for its settlement the procedure described in a schedule to the law and which reflects a proposal made by the trade union side in a joint letter with the Cyprus Employers’ and Industrialists’ Federation. The Government considers that the combination of the law and an agreement would secure its commitment to regulate, by law and in a manner compatible with ILO principles and standards, the right to strike in essential services, as well as the effective protection of the public interest and workers’ right to strike. The Government reiterates that the draft was transmitted to the trade unions which insisted that the issue was not a matter for legal regulations and that it should be dealt with in an agreement; the dialogue was thus brought to an end. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance, after consulting the Office on the consistency of the draft law with ILO principles and standards, submitted the draft to the Council of Ministers. The Council gave its approval in principle and authorized the Minister to submit it to the Attorney-General before its final examination by the Council. At the end of May 2002 (end of the period covered by the report), the draft was still before the Attorney-General.

The Committee takes note with interest of the draft law, which had been submitted to the Office for an informal opinion on its conformity with the Convention. It notes, in particular, that this draft law would repeal the discretionary power granted by law to the Council of Ministers, under sections 79A and 79B of the Defence Regulations, to prohibit strikes and would define essential services strictly in a manner compatible with the Convention. The Committee further notes that the exercise of industrial action in such services would be allowed, provided an agreed minimum service is ensured. The procedure to be followed for dispute settlement would be set out in an agreement, annexed in a schedule to the law. The Government has explained that it has tried in this way to reply to the concerns of the trade unions that the matter be dealt with in an agreement, while ensuring that the discretionary power granted by the Defence Regulations is repealed and that the strict definition of essential services is not subject to negotiation. In these circumstances, the Committee expresses the firm hope that the reform will be completed very soon. It requests the Government to keep it informed of the most recent developments in this respect and to provide with its next report any relevant draft or final text.