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The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received. It further notes the comments on the application of the Convention in law and in practice submitted by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in a communication dated 29 August 2008. The Committee requests the Government to provide its observations thereon.

The Committee notes the Labour Code of 2004 and wishes to raise in this respect the following points.

Article 3 of the Convention. The Committee notes that the decision to call a strike should be taken by the meeting (conference) of workers (section 437 of the Code). According to this provision, a minimum of two-thirds of the total number of workers (delegates) should be present at the meeting (conference) and the decision to take a strike should be taken by at least half of the number of workers present. Considering that the quorum set out for a strike is too high and may potentially impede recourse to strike action, particularly in large enterprises, the Committee requests the Government to amend its legislation so as to lower the quorum required for a strike ballot and to indicate the measures taken or envisaged in this regard.

The Committee notes that section 437 of the Code imposes the obligation to indicate, in the strike notice, the possible duration of the strike as well as to provide proposal on the minimum services to be maintained during the strike. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether workers can declare a strike for an indefinite period of time. It further requests the Government to specify the sectors of activity in which the minimum services should be maintained.

The Committee notes that under section 440(b) of the Code, the strike is prohibited in essential services – which include air, railway and water transport and communication – if the strike would endanger the defence and security of the State, as well as the life and health of the population. The Committee recalls that the right to strike can be restricted or prohibited in the event of an acute national emergency, in the public services or in essential services in the strict sense of the term, i.e. those the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population (see General Survey of 1994 on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraph 159). Considering that air, railway and water transport and communication in general (with the exception of air traffic control and telephone services) are not essential services in the strict sense of the term, the Committee requests the Government to clarify whether workers employed in these services enjoy the right to strike.