Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 376, October 2015

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 62. The committee last examined this case concerning a refusal by the authorities to register the complainants at its March 2013 meeting [367th Report, paras 851–862, approved by the Governing Body at its 317th Session (March 2013)]. On that occasion, the Committee urged the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the labour legislation and all relevant decisions are amended to ensure the free exercise by all workers of their right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing; to ensure, given the apparent discretionary authority bestowed upon the Minister in section 98(B) of the Labour Act, the immediate registration of the Independent Trade Union of Phosphate Sector Workers (ITUPSW) and the Independent Trade Union of Workers in the Jordanian Electricity Company (ITUWJEC); and lastly to institute an independent investigation into the alleged acts of discrimination in favour of non-strikers and to ensure appropriate remedies if found true.
2. 63. In its communication dated 10 January 2014, the Government submitted a report of a committee set up by the Ministry of Labour and tasked with examining the Committee’s recommendations. It is indicated in this report that the Supreme Court of Justice (the highest administrative court in Jordan) was seized on 9 January 2012 with an action to appeal the decision of the Registrar rejecting the application for registration of an independent trade union for employees in the phosphate sector. The Supreme Court upheld, in its decision rendered on 27 February 2012, the Registrar’s decision on grounds of lack of legal justification for such appeal (a copy of the decision was annexed to the Government’s reply). Following inquiries with the management of the electricity company, it was ascertained that: (1) the complainant’s claim that the company issued a decree declaring non-striking workers as loyal and paid them a bonus was untrue as all workers, regardless of whether or not they took part in the strike, enjoy all the privileges prescribed by the collective agreements signed by the General Trade Union; (2) following pressure by the lawfully registered General Trade Union Of Electricity Employees, the company management halted the deductions in respect of the 17-day period of the illegal strike, hence allowing all the workers to receive their full entitlements; and (3) a majority of the workers who had called for the creation of an independent union sent a memorandum to the president of the General Trade Union and finance director of the Jordanian Electric Power Company to the effect that all signatures on statements of the independent union are to be considered null and void after discovering that the latter did not meet their demands.
3. 64. Lastly, the Government indicates that the committee set up by the Ministry of Labour to examine the Committee’s recommendations advised the tripartite committee on labour affairs responsible for classifying the professions and industries in which workers may not establish more than one union to review the decree on professional categorization in order to give greater scope to union plurality and requested the ministry to seek technical assistance from the ILO to develop the labour law in order to expand union activity.
4. 65. The Committee takes due note of the information provided by the Government. Welcoming the indication that the tripartite committee on labour affairs was advised to review the decree on professional categorization and to develop the labour law so as to give greater scope to union plurality and to expand union activity, and noting that the Minister of Labour was requested to seek the technical assistance of the ILO to this end, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the actions taken or envisaged to give effect to these recommendations and trusts that the Government will engage with the ILO with a view to bringing its laws and practice into conformity with the principles of freedom of association.
5. 66. With regard to the registration of the complainants, while noting the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice upholding the initial decision of the Registrar to reject the application for registration of the ITUPSW on the grounds that a duly registered general trade union already exists in the sector concerned (phosphate sector) and that no more than one trade union shall be established in each sector, the Committee wishes to recall nonetheless that provisions which require a single union for each enterprise, trade or occupation are not in accordance with Article 2 of Convention No. 87 [see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, fifth (revised) edition, 2006, para. 317]. As regards the ITUWJEC, although a majority of the workers who had called for its creation are said to have withdrawn their support, the Committee requests the Government and the complainant to indicate whether there are officers and members that have remained in the ITUWJEC, and if so, the Committee expects the Government, in the framework of the recommended review of the decree on professional categorization and labour law reform aimed at expanding union plurality and activities, to take measures to ensure its registration as well as that of the ITUPSW. It requests the Government to keep it informed with respect to these remaining matters.