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The Committee notes with regret the indication in the Government’s report that there has been no change in legislation or practice concerning the issues raised in the Committee’s previous observation. The Committee has been referring for a number of years to the need to amend legislation so as to exclude the banana, citrus and coconut industries as well as the port authority, from the schedule of essential services annexed to Act No. 18 of 1986 on industrial relations, which makes it possible to stop a strike in these sectors by compulsory arbitration. The Committee had also noted that sections 59(1)(b) and 61(1)(c) of this Act empowered the Minister to refer disputes to compulsory arbitration if they concerned serious issues in his or her opinion.

The Committee urges the Government once again to take the necessary measures in the very near future to ensure that strikes may only be prohibited in essential services in the strict sense of the term, in conformity with Article 3 of the Convention. Furthermore, the Committee requests the Government to provide in its next report information on the application of the abovementioned provisions in practice. The Committee requests the Government in particular to transmit statistical data on the number, content and outcome of disputes which have been referred to compulsory arbitration, because they concerned the banana, citrus and coconut industries, the port authority, or issues considered serious by the Minister.