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The Committee takes note of the Government’s report. It also takes note of the entry into force of Act No. 35 of 2002 on the organization of trade unions.

Article 1 of the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the Trade Union Bill did not include specific provisions accompanied by effective and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions that guaranteed the protection of workers against acts of anti-union discrimination by employers, and it requested the Government to amend the Bill to ensure such protection.

The Committee notes with satisfaction that section 8 of Act No. 35 of 2002 provides that no person may be coerced into joining or withdrawing from an organization or from exercising their trade union rights and that section 10 prohibits any anti-union act, including dismissal, for trade union activities or membership. The Committee also notes that section 89 of the Labour Code specifies the duties of the employer (namely the obligation to respect the Labour Code) and that section 154 establishes prison sentences (not exceeding three months) or fines (not exceeding 20,000 riyals) for infringements of section 89.

Article 2. In its previous comments, the Committee also urged the Government to ensure that the Trade Union Bill contained provisions for rapid appeal procedures, together with effective and dissuasive sanctions to protect workers’ organizations against acts of interference by employers. The Committee notes that section 8 of Act No. 35 prohibits direct and indirect interference in the functioning of trade union organizations and that section 56 specifies the prohibition of any person trying to influence the freedom and neutrality of elections, whether directly or indirectly, or threaten, mistreat or defame a nominee or a trade union. Any person found guilty of committing any of the previous acts shall be punished by penalties according to the laws that are in force. In this respect, the Government refers to the Act on general elections No. 27 of 1996, and amendments made thereto issued by Act No. 27 of 1999. However, the Committee notes that Act No. 35 of 2002 does not contain specific sanctions for the protection of workers’ organizations against acts of interference by employers or their organizations. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on any sanctions established against acts of interference prohibited in the legislation.

Article 4. (a) In its previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to further promote collective bargaining and to provide statistics on the number of workers covered by collective agreements in comparison with the total number of workers in the country. The Government indicates in its report that it was not able to obtain any statistics in this respect. The Committee expresses the firm hope that the Government will be able to provide it with these statistics together with its next report.

(b) The Committee had also requested the Government to amend sections 32(6) and 34(2) of the Labour Code so that refusal to register a collective agreement would be possible only due to a procedural flaw or because it did not conform to the minimum standards laid down by the labour legislation. The Government indicates in its last report that there are proposed amendments to the Labour Code. The Committee notes the Government’s statement and expresses the hope that sections 32(6) and 34(2) of the Labour Code will be amended in the very near future so that refusal to register a collective agreement is only possible due to a procedural flaw or because it does not conform to the minimum standards laid down by the labour legislation.