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The Committee takes note of the Government’s report.

Article 2 of the Convention. Protection against acts of interference. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted that neither the Labour Code nor the Trade Union Act prohibit or impose penalties against acts of interference by employers or their organizations into the functioning and administration of workers’ organizations and vice versa. The Committee notes that the Government’s report mentions legislative provisions prohibiting certain acts of interference but does not refer to any sanctions in this respect. The Committee recalls the importance of the legislation making express provision for rapid appeal procedures, coupled with effective and dissuasive sanctions against acts of interference in order to ensure the application in practice of Article 2. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary steps to that effect.

Article 4. Voluntary negotiations. The Committee had requested the Government to take the necessary measures to repeal sections 148 and 153 of the Labour Code, as these provisions enable higher level organizations to interfere in the negotiation process conducted by lower level organizations. The Committee had also requested the Government to take the necessary measures to amend the Labour Code in order to enable the parties to have recourse to arbitration by mutual agreement (articles 179 and 187, in conjunction with sections 156 and 163 of the Labour Code). In its report the Government considers that these provisions should be placed in the context of the dire economic conditions witnessed by the country, and correspond to the need for better protection of the workers with a view to supporting the trade union movement. The Committee nevertheless recalls that the above provisions are incompatible with the autonomy of the bargaining partners and with the principle of free and voluntary negotiations of collective agreements established in the Convention. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary steps to amend the Labour Code in order to bring the legislation into full conformity with the Convention on these points.

Article 6. Scope of the Convention. With respect to the exclusion of some categories of workers from the scope of the Labour Code, the Committee had requested the Government to specify the manner in which domestic workers and workers who are members of the family of the employer enjoy the guarantees afforded by the Convention, including the right to collective bargaining. The Government in its report considers that it is nearly impossible to supervise and monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Convention in this field but recalls that domestic workers and employees in all sectors are covered by the Trade Union Act No 35 of 1976 as amended by Act No. 12 of 1995. The Committee however considers that the institutionalization of a single trade union system under the Act constitutes an obstacle to the guarantees afforded therein including collective bargaining, and therefore refers to its observations in this respect under Convention No. 87.