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The Committee notes the Government's first report.

Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee notes that workers employed in the public administration do not enjoy the right to collective bargaining and that their conditions of employment are fixed exclusively by the State. The Committee notes the Government's information according to which the Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization has drawn up a Bill concerning collective bargaining in the public administration which will be submitted very shortly to Parliament. The Committee expresses the hope that the Bill will be adopted soon, so that employees in the public administration will have the right to collective bargaining. The Committee asks the Government to inform it in its next report of any developments in this respect.

Article 2. The Committee observes that Act No. 1876 of 1990 concerning free collective bargaining stipulates in section 6(b) that an employer who employs at least 50 workers can conclude collective agreements. The Committee requests the Government to indicate to what extent an enterprise which employs fewer than 50 workers can conclude collective agreements with trade union organizations and enjoy the protection afforded by such agreements.

Article 5, paragraph (2)(e). The Committee observes that under the terms of section 16(d) of Act No. 1876 of 1990, which refers to the possibility of settling disputes through arbitration, if the dispute relates to an enterprise agreement or collective agreement applicable to public sector utilities, corporations or authorities and one of the parties rejects the mediator's proposals, the other party may apply for arbitration. In this respect, the Committee considers that in general, arbitration imposed at the request of only one of the parties to a dispute is contrary to the principle of voluntary negotiation of collective agreements established under the Convention and, consequently, contrary to the autonomy of bargaining partners (see 1994 General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraph 257). Under these circumstances, the Committee requests the Government to take steps to amend section 16(d) to ensure that recourse to compulsory arbitration requires the consent of both parties, where the dispute relates to an enterprise agreement or collective agreement applicable to public sector utilities, corporations or authorities and one of the parties rejects the proposals of the mediator. In general, recourse to compulsory arbitration should be possible only in the context of essential services in the strict sense of the term or in relation to public servants engaged in the administration of the State.