CMNT_TITLE

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Mauritius (RATIFICATION: 2005)

Other comments on C087

Observation

Direct Request

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Article 2 of the Convention. Right to establish and join organizations. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that the Employment Relations (Amendment) Act 2013 introduced amendments to section 29 of the Employment Relations Act 2008 (ERA) so that a worker has the right to join only one trade union, of his or her own choice, in the enterprise where he or she is employed or his or her bargaining unit. The Committee requests the Government to specify whether all workers are able to join more than one organization, if they so wish, in order to be able to defend their occupational interests in cases where they are engaged in more than one occupation.

Article 3. Strike for matters of general economic policy. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that workers and their organizations are able to use strike action to support their position in the search for solutions to problems posed by major social and economic policy trends with a direct impact on their members and on workers in general. The Committee notes that the Government requests technical assistance from the Office in this regard, in light of the fact that matters of general economic policy do not fall under the control of an employer. The Committee hopes that technical assistance from the Office will be provided in the near future and requests the Government to provide information of progress made to ensure that workers and their organizations may have recourse to strike action on matters of economic policy.

Strike ballot, compulsory arbitration and minimum services. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to amend: (i) section 78(3) of the ERA to ensure that account is taken only of the votes cast in determining the outcome of the strike ballot; (ii) section 82(1)(b) of the ERA so that compulsory arbitration may only be imposed at the request of both parties to a dispute, in the case of disputes in the public service involving public servants exercising authority in the name of the state or in essential services in the strict sense of the term; and (iii) section 82(1)(a) and (2) of the ERA so that a minimum service may not be imposed for the mere reason that the duration of a strike may affect a service or industry or employment. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it has been proposed that the Government re-examine these issues and come up with a policy decision as appropriate in light of the Committee’s comments. The Committee trusts that the Government will take the necessary legislative measures in the near future so as to ensure full conformity with the provisions of the Convention and requests it to provide information on any developments.

Prohibition on strike during course of collective agreement. The Committee notes that the Employment Relations (Amendment) Act 2013 amends sections 67 and 77(b) of the ERA so that labour disputes may not be reported, nor recourse to strike allowed, when a collective agreement is in force. The Committee further notes the observations of the General Workers Federation (GWF) and four unions of the sugar industry in this regard. The Committee recalls that if legislation prohibits strikes during the term of collective agreements, this major restriction on a basic right of workers’ organizations must be compensated by the right to have recourse to impartial and rapid arbitration machinery for individual or collective grievances concerning the interpretation or application of collective agreements. Such a procedure not only allows the inevitable difficulties of application and interpretation to be settled during the term of an agreement, but has the advantage of clearing the ground for subsequent bargaining rounds by identifying the problems which have arisen during the term of the agreement (General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, 1994, paragraph 167). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any compensatory procedures existing or envisaged.