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The Committee has noted the Government's report, the new Law on Collective Employment Contracts of 1996, the communication from the National Union Block dated 14 October 1996 and the conclusions of the Committee on Freedom of Association in Case No. 1904, adopted by the Governing Body at its 268th Session in March 1997.

The Committee notes with satisfaction that certain restrictions on the right of employers to bargain collectively, on which it had commented, have been lifted under the above Law. In specific terms, the right to bargain collectively is no longer restricted to chambers of commerce and industry.

The Committee had asked the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged, together with effective and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions, to ensure appropriate protection for all workers against acts of anti-union discrimination intended to make a worker's employment conditional on his not joining a trade union, dismiss a worker or cause harm to him as a result of his union membership.

The Committee also asked the Government to indicate in detail the measures, together with effective and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions, taken or envisaged to guarantee to workers' organizations appropriate protection against acts of interference by employers, in particular those giving rise to the establishment of workers' organizations supported by financial or other means so as to place such workers' organizations under the supervision of an employer or an employers' organization.

In this regard, the Committee notes that the Government indicates in its report that the Individual Employment Contracts Bill provides for the prohibition of discrimination based on union membership. Amendments to the 1991 Trade Unions Act will be discussed, together with the proposals made by the social partners, within the tripartite consultative committee set up under the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress made, and to provide details, and hopes that it will also be able to provide a copy of the Bill or the provisions prohibiting anti-union discrimination and interference and providing for effective sanctions.