Suites données aux recommandations du comité et du Conseil d’administration - Rapport No. 407, Juin 2024

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

1. 50. The Committee last examined this case, concerning non-compliance with clauses of several collective agreements and anti-union practices in nationalized public cement companies, as well as dismissals and persecution of trade union activists and leaders in these companies, at its March 2018 meeting [see 384 Report, paras 548–564]. On that occasion, the Committee made the following recommendations:
   • (a) The Committee urges the Government to provide more detailed information concerning recommendations (a), (b), (d) and (g) of its previous examination of the case, regarding the promotion of collective bargaining, tripartite dialogue and respect for collective agreements in the cement industry. Furthermore, it invites the Government to address all outstanding matters relating to these issues by setting up a dialogue round table with the interested organizations, and requests the Government to keep it informed in this regard, as well as of the number and coverage of agreements concluded in the enterprises concerned.
   • (b) The Committee once again invites the complainant organizations to provide any detailed information at their disposal and requests the Government, on the basis of that information, to state whether Mr Alexander Santos and Mr Manuel Rodríguez did actually file judicial proceedings and to provide information on the outcome of such proceedings, and to provide a copy of the court decision ruling partially in favour of Mr Ulice Rodríguez.
2. 51. In a communication dated 30 October 2018, the Government provides information in relation to the Committee’s recommendation (a) concerning the promotion of collective bargaining, tripartite dialogue and respect for collective agreements in the cement sector. The Government indicates that the right to collective bargaining is enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic and in the Organic Law on Labour, Workers and Women Workers (LOTTT) and reiterates that collective bargaining is promoted and guaranteed in the cement sector and in all sectors as well as in the company Venezolana de Cementos S.A.C.A., concerning the case in question. The Government reiterates that it guarantees and ensures compliance with collective bargaining agreements in all sectors, with workers having legal mechanisms at their disposal to enforce the constitutional guarantee of collective bargaining and having the possibility of going to the labour inspectorates for the purpose of lodging complaints, prior negotiations, petitions and working groups at the request of a party or ex officio for the purpose of ensuring compliance with collective bargaining agreements. The Government indicates that in the above-mentioned enterprise, working tables are being developed with the participation of all trade union organizations. The Government also indicates that it gives priority to inclusive social dialogue through which it tries to find a solution to the labour disputes and problems raised by the workers. The Government refers once again to the dialogue held at the labour inspectorate of the state of Lara, Pio Tamayo. Finally, the Government once again highlights the lack of information requested on several occasions from the complainants, as well as the lack of impetus given by the complainants in relation to the complaint, and requests that the case be closed.
3. 52. The Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government. The Committee regrets to note that, despite having urged the Government to provide more detailed information in relation to the recommendations made, the information provided by the Government in 2018 essentially reiterates elements of a general nature that had already been considered by the Committee in the past. The Committee also notes that, despite having again invited the complainant organizations to provide certain information with a view to examining the follow-up given to recommendation (b) concerning the alleged dismissal of trade unionists and the status of the legal proceedings initiated in this respect, the Committee has not received any information from them. The Committee recalls that the latest information provided by the complainant organizations in this case dates from 2014. The Committee also notes that, at the last session of the social dialogue forum held in February 2024 following the Commission of Inquiry established under article 26 of the ILO Constitution to examine the observance by the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), among other Conventions, the country’s tripartite constituents agreed to continue to take steps to deepen and strengthen social dialogue in the country. In the light of the foregoing, the Committee reiterates its invitation to the Government to address any outstanding issues relating to the promotion of collective bargaining and respect for collective agreements in the cement sector in the framework of round tables with the organizations concerned, and considers this case closed and will not pursue its examination.