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The Committee notes the adoption of the new Labour Act No. 23/2007 of 1 August 2007. It also notes the comments of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) concerning acts of anti-union discrimination in the export processing zones and the limited number of signed collective agreements. The Committee requests the Government to send its observations on these matters.

The Committee recalls that its previous comments concern the following issues.

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Protection against acts of anti-union discrimination and acts of interference. The Committee had noted that the draft Labour Code of June 2006 banned acts of anti-union discrimination and acts of interference, but did not provide for sufficiently dissuasive penalties if these bans were violated. It had requested the Government to include sufficiently dissuasive penalties against acts of anti-union discrimination and acts of interference in the draft Labour Code. The Committee notes that the recently adopted Labour Act provides for penalties ranging from five to six times the minimum wage, and that this penalty is doubled if there is a repetition of the violation in the same year. In order to assess whether these penalties are sufficiently dissuasive in practice, the Committee requests the Government to send information on the number of complaints received against acts of anti-trade union discrimination and interference, as well as on the amount of the fines imposed in the cases of violation.

Article 4. Compulsory arbitration. The Committee had observed that section 189 of the draft Labour Code provided for compulsory arbitration in the case of collective disputes in essential services which, under section 205, included the postal services, petroleum sector, meteorological services, loading and unloading of cattle and perishable goods. Noting that the Labour Act of 2007 retains these provisions, 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, that is services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. The Committee considers that the services listed are not essential services and therefore that any conflict arising in them should not be submitted to compulsory arbitration, but rather be dealt with in the framework of conciliation and mediation procedures. The Committee therefore requests the Government to amend section 205 of the Labour Act so as to exclude the postal services, petroleum sector, meteorological services, loading and unloading of cattle and perishable goods from the list of essential services, in which compulsory arbitration may be imposed.

Article 6. Collective bargaining in the public sector. In a previous comment, 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 under the Convention: it had noted the Government’s reply that the draft law on trade union activities in the public sector covered these workers, including those in the public administration, both at national and local level, as well as public and subordinate institutions. However, it had noted that section 36 of this text promoted arbitration and governmental intervention as a fundamental means to settle disputes. The Committee had then recalled that compulsory arbitration was only admissible in the case of public servants who could be excluded from the rights provided for in the Convention under Article 6, in other words those engaged in the administration of the State, and that the other public servants should be able to bargain collectively. The Committee notes that, according to the Government’s report, public servants are not covered by the trade union law but that the legislation on public servants’ organizations will be examined by Parliament in October and November 2008. The Government also states that the National Authority for the Public Service was established in June 2006. The Committee firmly hopes that the legislation on public servants will be adopted as soon as possible and that it will ensure that public servants who are not engaged in the administration of the State benefit from the guarantees under the Convention, including the right to collective bargaining.

The Committee had also requested the Government to send information on the number of collective agreements in force and on the sectors and workers covered. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, 47 collective agreements have been deposited with the public authorities, 25.5 per cent of which were in industry, 21.3 per cent in community services and 19.2 per cent in transport. The Government points out that the total number of collective agreements signed in 2007 represented a considerable increase over those signed in 2006 (104 per cent increase). The Committee takes due note of this information and requests the Government to continue promoting free and voluntary collective bargaining and to indicate any measures taken in this respect.