Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2024, publiée 113ème session CIT (2025)

Convention (n° 87) sur la liberté syndicale et la protection du droit syndical, 1948 - Niger (Ratification: 1961)

Article 2 of the Convention. Scope of application. In its previous comments, the Committee observed that section 14 of Act No. 2007-26 of 23 July 2007 issuing the General Public Service Regulations guarantees that public service employees enjoy the right to establish and join a trade union, but that section 41 of the same Act excludes from its scope of application the following categories of workers: judges; teachers and researchers in universities and similar institutions; the personnel of administrations, services and public establishments of the State that are industrial or commercial in nature; staff of customs, water and forestry services, and of the National School of Administration and Magistracy; and the staff of local authorities and the parliamentary administration. The Committee notes the copies of legislation provided by the Government, in reply to its request for the Government to indicate the legislative provisions ensuring that the above categories of workers enjoy the rights guaranteed by the Convention. The Committee notes that the laws establishing regulations governing judges, staff of local authorities, and staff of water and forestry services (namely, Act No. 2018-36 of 24 May 2018 establishing the specific regulations governing the judiciary, Act No. 2019-26 of 17 June 2019 establishing the specific regulations governing staff of local authorities, and Act No. 2016-25 of 16 June 2016 establishing the specific regulations governing staff of water and forestry services), all appear to provide for the right to establish and join a trade union. The Committee further notes that Act No. 2005-14 of 30 May 2005 establishing the specific regulations governing staff of customs services guarantees the right to organize. The Committee notes that the Government has not provided information on the other above-mentioned categories. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the legislative provisions, if any, which ensure that the other categories of workers, who are not covered by the scope of application of Act No. 2007-26 of 23 July 2007 issuing the General Public Service Regulations, enjoy the rights guaranteed by the Convention (in particular, teachers and researchers in universities and similar institutions; the personnel of administrations, services and public establishments of the State that are industrial or commercial in nature; staff of the National School of Administration and Magistracy; and the staff of the parliamentary administration). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the existence of workers’ organizations for the categories excluded from the General Public Service Regulations, and to specify the number of existing organizations and the number of their members.

Articles 3 and 10. Provisions on requisitioning and strikes. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to amend section 9 of Ordinance No. 96-009 of 21 March 1996 regulating the exercise of the right to strike of state employees and local authority employees, and welcomed the information provided by the Government on the implementation of a framework involving all stakeholders to steer the discussions on a complete revision of the texts regulating the right to strike.

In this regard, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government, according to which the commission established to revise the texts regulating the right to strike has completed its work and has submitted its conclusions. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that local authority employees are no longer governed by Order No. 96-009 of 21 March 1996, but by Act No. 2019-26 of 17 June 2019 establishing the specific regulations governing staff of local authorities, which regulate the right to strike of local authority employees. The Committee notes that Act No. 2019-26 of 17 June 2019 appears to introduce a number of new provisions which maintain or even extend the limits of the right to strike, and extend the power of requisition; however, the Committee questions the validity of this Act after the adoption of Order No. 2024-21 of 5 June 2024, which Order appears to provide for a reorganization involving the elimination of local authorities. The Committee requests the Government to provide clarification on whether Act No. 2019-26 of 17 June 2019 establishing the specific regulations governing staff of local authorities has remained in force following the elimination of local authorities as organizational bodies in the country. Noting the completion of the work to fully revise the texts regulating the right to strike, the Committee requests the Government to provide copies of all the relevant legislation in force.

Article 3. Compulsory arbitration. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the Labour Code provides for two ways to contest an arbitration award issued by an arbitration board established in the context of collective disputes: (i) through the objection by one of the parties to the award within two days of the notification of the award to the parties, in accordance with section 331(2) of the Labour Code; and (ii) through the application, once the award has become binding, to the judicial chamber of the Court of Cassation for the award to be set aside on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction or violation of the law, in accordance with section 335 of the Labour Code. The Committee noted that the Labour Code does not contain provisions on the procedure carried out following opposition to an arbitration award. The Committee notes with regret that the Government still has not provided further details regarding the opposition procedure set out in section 331 of the Labour Code, but the Government indicates that, even though it is provided for by law, recourse to the arbitration procedure is very rare. Regarding the jurisdiction of the Court of Cassation established in section 335 of the Labour Code, the Committee observes that the functions of the Court of Cassation are now performed by the State Court to which pending cases are transferred (see section 14 of Order No. 2023-02 on the organization of public authorities during the transition period, and section 1 of Order No. 2023-11 of 5 October 2023 determining the organization, duties and functioning of the State Court). The Committee wishes to recall that recourse to compulsory arbitration to bring an end to a collective labour dispute and a strike, in the absence of agreement by the parties, is only acceptable when the strike in question may be restricted, or even prohibited, that is, in the case of disputes concerning public servants exercising authority in the name of the State, for disputes involving essential services in the strict sense of the term, or in situations of acute national crisis (General Survey of 2012 on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 153). The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate theprocedure that follows the notification of opposition, in accordance with section 331(2) of the Labour Code, and whether the two-day limit may be extended or waived in exceptional circumstances. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the number and nature of collective labour disputes that have been settled by a binding arbitration award. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the impact on the handling of collective labour disputes following the assumption of duties by the new transitional judicial bodies.