Seguimiento dado a las recomendaciones del Comité y del Consejo de Administración - Informe núm. 337, Junio 2005

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

1. 119. The Committee last examined this case at its November 2004 meeting [see 335th Report, approved by the Governing Body at its 291st Session, paras. 1186-1215]. On that occasion, the Committee made the following recommendations:
   • (a) The Committee urges the Government to carry out an investigation without delay into the allegation that state enterprise Electro Sur Este S.A.A. violated the terms of an arbitral award by using threats of dismissal and other sanctions in order to insist that trade union travel expenses should be accounted for. The Committee requests that the Government keep it informed in this respect.
   • (b) The Committee requests the Government to send additional observations concerning the allegation that over 50 per cent of the permanent workforce at Luz del Sur has been dismissed.
   • (c) The Committee expresses the hope that the judicial authority will come to a quick decision on the dismissal of the general secretary of SUTREL, Mr. Luis Martín del Río Reátegui, from the Luz del Sur S.A.A. company and, should it order that Mr. Reátegui be reinstated, asks the Government to ensure that the judicial decision is put into effect immediately and that he is paid any outstanding wages. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the judicial decision and to send it a copy of the judgement handed down.
   • (d) Regarding the registration of the executive committee of the Peruvian Union of Folklore Artists (SITAFP), the Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the result of the pending administrative appeals, as well as of the outcome of any legal proceeding initiated in this respect.
2. 120. With regard to the demand that accounts be provided and the alleged violation of the terms of an arbitral award by the state enterprise Electro Sur Este S.A.A., the Government considers, in its communication of 13 January 2005, that the purpose of the arbitral award decided by the collective agreement between the Federation of Peruvian Light and Power Workers (FTLFP) and Electro Sur Este was to grant an amount of money to cover the travel of union members undertaking union activities outside the workplace. The Government considers that the enterprise has been complying with the terms of the arbitral award and is not distorting them by asking for the amounts granted to be accounted for, inasmuch as the money allocated for this purpose forms part of the public state budget. The Government also considers that the application of the directives on management and budgeting of the organizations coming under the National Fund for Financing State Enterprise Activity (FONAFE) and its regulations at Electro Sur Este neither distorts nor violates the benefit enjoyed by the trade unions of having their travel expenses paid by the enterprise, inasmuch as the only thing required is that those expenses be justified. The Government also recalls that the collective agreement which establishes the travel expenses benefit as a mandatory provision is of a permanent nature and may only be modified by the same parties that signed it. Hence the FONAFE directives and regulations within the enterprise do not seek to modify the content of the abovementioned mandatory provision; on the contrary, they reaffirm the existence of the benefit but require that the expenses incurred by union officials be specified in order to justify the use of those funds. In another communication dated 17 January 2005, the Government reaffirms that justification of trade union travel expenses does not contravene any fundamental collective right, but merely complies with official policy on actual public expenditure in all state offices and public enterprises.
3. 121. With regard to the dismissal of over 50 per cent of the permanent workforce at Luz del Sur, the Government indicates in its communication of 18 February 2005 that Luz del Sur, in a letter dated 19 January 2005, stated that the allegations made were totally false, malicious and unfounded, that there had never been any arbitrary dismissals without justification of over 50 per cent of the workforce, and that no complaint or legal proceedings had been brought against the enterprise in this connection. The Government states that the investigatory proceedings available to any worker who considers that his labour rights have been violated are covered by the relevant regulations in Peruvian law.
4. 122. As regards the dismissal of the SUTREL general secretary, Mr. Luis Martín del Río Reátegui, from Luz del Sur S.A.A., the Government indicates that the first-level ruling dated 25 October 2004 quashed the dismissal and ordered the reinstatement of the worker and the payment of all outstanding wages. The Government states that an appeal has been lodged against the ruling and is currently before the higher judicial body, the Duty Labour Chamber.
5. 123. Finally, with regard to the alleged refusal to register the executive committee of the Peruvian Union of Folklore Artists (SITAFP), the Government indicates that the first instance of the Labour Administrative Authority dismissed the request to recognize the executive committee elected by the complainants and the second instance confirmed the first-level decision. By directorial order of 26 January 2005, the appeal lodged by SITAFP against the second-level decision was dismissed. With this last ruling, the Government indicates that the administrative processes are deemed to be exhausted and that no civil or labour action by SITAFP has been registered.
6. 124. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of the judicial proceedings concerning the dismissal of the SUTREL general secretary, Mr. Luis Martín del Río Reátegui and, should the first-level ruling ordering the reinstatement of the union official in question be confirmed, to take the necessary steps to ensure that he is reinstated immediately.