Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

While noting with interest the contents of Labour Act (No. 6 of 1992) which recognizes, amongst other things, the right of workers and employers, respectively, to establish and join trade unions and employers' organizations of their own choosing, the Committee notes with concern that section 8(1) of the Export Processing Zones Act, 1995 (Act No. 9 of 1995) stipulates that the provisions of the Labour Act shall not apply in an export processing zone (EPZ). The Committee has emphasized the importance it attaches to the need for all workers, without distinction whatsoever and including those employed in EPZs, fully to enjoy the trade union rights provided for by the Convention. It has also recalled that the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, adopted by the Governing Body in November 1977, states in paragraph 45 that "where governments of host countries offer special incentives to attract foreign investment, these incentives should not include any limitation of the workers' freedom of association or the right to organize and bargain collectively." (See 1994 General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraph 60.)

The Committee therefore requests the Government to take appropriate steps to ensure that the Export Processing Zones Act is amended so as to allow the application of the Labour Act in EPZs. It requests the Government to inform it in its next report of any progress made in this regard.