Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 1997, publiée 86ème session CIT (1998)

The Committee notes the Government's report for the period ending in May 1997 which contains no relevant information in reply to its previous comments. The Committee is therefore bound to note once again that, in none of its reports since 1983, has the Government provided any information on the consultations held during the periods covered on the matters enumerated in Article 5, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The Committee recalls that it already stressed in its previous report the special importance it attaches to the regular monitoring of the application of this fundamental provision, particularly by means of the information that should be provided by the Government in each of its reports, in accordance with the report form.

The Committee has been informed of the entry into force in 1996 of the new Industrial Relations Act. It notes the provisions concerning the Labour Advisory Board and particularly its composition (section 21) and its duties (section 22) which cover all the matters set out in Article 5, paragraph 1. The Committee notes the conclusions and recommendations of the Governing Body's Committee on Freedom of Association deploring the circumstances in which the new Act was adopted and the many provisions which are in breach of ILO freedom of association standards (Case No. 1884, 306th Report of the Committee on Freedom of Association). It also notes the conclusions of the Committee on the Application of Standards at the International Labour Conference in June 1997, noting that the Government has made little progress in remedying the discrepancies between the Act and the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87). It hopes that the Government will take account of proposals made by the Labour Advisory Board in accordance with the provisions of section 22(1)(b) of the Act, to set right the provisions which are in breach of the fundamental principles of freedom of association. The Committee recalls that in its General Survey of 1982 it stated that for the purposes of the procedures provided for in the Convention, the representatives of employers and workers must be chosen freely by representative organizations enjoying freedom of association, and asks the Government to indicate to what extent effect is given to Articles 2, 3 and 5 of the Convention despite the offending provisions.

The Government indicates in its report that the annual report on the working of the procedures provided for in the Convention as required by Article 6 is included in the Annual Report of the Department of Labour which will be sent to the ILO shortly. The Government is asked to send the report as soon as possible. The Committee is bound to recall that in its previous direct request it noted that the Government had indicated in its report received by the Office on 26 November 1986 that the annual report on the working of the consultation procedures would be included in the Annual Reports of the Department of Labour. It attached to its 1988 report a copy of the above report, which did not contain the information expected. The Committee pointed out that no other report on the working of these procedures had reached the Office since then. The Government is once again asked to indicate the reasons for the interruption in the communication of such reports. It is also asked, if it has not yet done so, to initiate consultations in the Labour Advisory Board on the need to issue the report, and to provide information on these consultations in its next report.