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The Committee notes the Government's information as well as the comments made by the Confederation of Unions of Chad (CST) in communications dated 21 and 22 August 1997 and in respect of the new Labour Code adopted on 11 December 1996 (Act No. 38/PR/96).

The CST argues that sections 308 and 309 of the new Labour Code, which provide that representative trade union organizations can conclude collective agreements and are represented, at the national level, on the High-level Committee for Labour and Social Security, are contrary to the provisions of the Convention since they authorize the authorities to give privileges to certain organizations to the detriment of others. In this respect, the Government specifies that representativeness, whose parameters are set out by section 310, is essential for a trade union organization and must be verified by the public authority based on legal criteria. The Committee notes this information and that, in respect of section 314, the representative nature of a trade union is determined by taking into consideration the number of due-paying members and the percentage that it obtained at the last elections of workers' representatives, where it must have obtained at least 15 per cent of the workers' representatives elected. The Committee considers that, in these circumstances, the representativeness of trade unions for the purposes of collective bargaining, appears to be legally determined by objective criteria and therefore requires no comment.

Moreover, the CST maintains that sections 346 and 347 of the new Labour Code, which empower the Minister of Labour and Social Security to formulate comments on sectorial or interoccupational collective agreements as well as sections 353, 354 and 356 which provide for the intervention of the Minister in extending or broadening the application of these provisions would be contrary to the provisions of the Convention. The Government, however, points out that sections 346 and 347, which were the subject of the Committee's previous comments, only authorize the Minister to formulate comments and that, in the last resort, it is the parties who freely decide the course they wish to follow. The Committee notes this information and, consequently, considers that sections 346 and 347 do not give rise to new comments. In regard to the possible extension of collective agreements by ministerial decision (sections 353 and 354), the Committee notes that, whilst this extension can take place on the initiative of the Minister, section 353 provides for this decision to be taken following consultation of a tripartite body. The Committee, therefore, will not pursue this point further.