CMNT_TITLE

The Committee notes the new Bill of 31 July 2000 amending the Industrial Relations Act, which is to supersede the Act.

The Committee considers that for the new Bill to be fully consistent with the provisions of the Convention, it would be necessary: (1) to provide for sufficiently dissuasive sanctions and procedures against acts of interference by employers and their organizations in workers’ organizations, and vice versa; (2) to amend section 40, which requires an absolute majority of the workers of a bargaining unit for entitlement to bargain collectively, so as to allow unions without such a majority to negotiate at least on behalf of their members; (3) to amend in the same way the requirement in section 41 that, in order to negotiate collectively for a branch of activity or occupation, an organization must represent the absolute majority of the workers of the branch or occupation and must also comprise an absolute majority of the respective enterprises at local, regional or national level; and (4) to amend section 68 so that the decision to intervene in a collective dispute, ordering referral of the dispute to arbitration, is limited to disputes in essential services and in the event of an acute crisis.

The Committee expresses the hope that these comments will be taken into account if it is decided to adopt the Bill and asks the Government to provide information in its next report on the Bill’s progress. The Committee reminds the Government of the availability of ILO technical assistance.