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The Committee takes note of the Government’s report as well as of the draft Labour Code of June 2006 (that derogates Labour Act 8/98) and has recently been sent to Parliament and the draft law on the trade union activities in the public sector.

The Committee recalls that its previous comments referred to the following matters.

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Protection against acts of anti union discrimination and acts of interference. The Committee notes that, although acts of anti-union discrimination and acts of interference are forbidden in the draft Labour Code of June 2006, it does not provide for sufficiently dissuasive sanctions against them. The Committee is surprised with the Government’s information according to which this issue will be addressed once the draft Labour Code is approved. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures in order to include sufficiently dissuasive sanctions against acts of anti-union discrimination and acts of interference in the draft Labour Code, in conformity with the Convention.

Article 4. Compulsory arbitration. The Committee observes that section 189 of the draft Labour Code provides for compulsory arbitration in the case of a collective dispute in essential services, following a list enumerated in section 205, which includes the postal services, petroleum sector, meteorological services and loading and unloading of cattle and perishable goods. The Committee recalls that compulsory arbitration may only be imposed in the case of public servants exercising authority in the name of the State or in the case of essential services in the strict sense of the term, which are those the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. The Committee considers that those services enumerated in section 205 are not essential services and thus any conflict arisen in them should not be submitted to compulsory arbitration, but rather be dealt with in the framework of conciliation and mediation proceedings. In these conditions, the Committee hopes that the Labour Code to be adopted will be in full conformity with the Convention and requests the Government to keep it informed of the legislative evolution of the bill in its next report.

Article 6. Collective bargaining in the public sector. The Committee had requested the Government to indicate whether public servants, who are not engaged in the administration of the State, enjoy the guarantees provided for by the Convention and, if so, under which provisions. The Committee notes that the draft law on the trade union activities in the public sector covers these workers including those in the public administration, both at the national and local level, as well as public and subordinate institutions. However, the Committee observes that, according to section 36 of the draft law, the State promotes arbitration and governmental intervention as fundamental means to dispute resolution. The Committee recalls that compulsory arbitration is only admissible for those public servants who are engaged in the administration of the State. In these circumstances, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures in order to ensure that the draft law on the trade union activities allows public servants that are not engaged in the administration of the State to bargain collectively. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the parliamentary evolution of the bill.

Comments of the ICFTU. The Committee also takes note of the comments of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), which refer namely to the issues already dealt with by the Committee, as well as to acts of trade union discrimination such as threats of dismissals and transfer of trade union leaders. The Committee requests the Government to send its observations on these comments.

Finally, the Committee requests the Government to send information on the number of collective agreements in force and on the sectors and workers covered.