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The Committee notes the Government’s report.

Previously, the Committee had raised a number of points with respect to the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), which came into force on 31 March 2004. Noting the Government’s indications that the Labour Act repeals legislation that had not been in conformity with the requirements of the Convention, and that a tripartite committee had been established to promote continuous dialogue between the social partners, the Committee nevertheless regrets that the Government otherwise does not reply to the matters contained in its previous comment. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide information on the following points.

Article 2 of the Convention. Right of workers and employers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization. 1. Managerial and executive staff. The Committee requests the Government to amend section 79(2) of the Labour Act so as to ensure that workers performing managerial and decision-making functions maintain the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing in order to defend and further their professional rights and interests.

2. Right to establish and join organizations at the branch or industry level. The Committee asks the Government to specify whether workers have the possibility to establish trade unions at the level of branch or industry, and to indicate any applicable provision in this respect.

3. Right of employers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing. The Committee requests the Government to amend section 80(2) so as to lift the requirement of employing at least 15 workers in order for an employer to establish or join an employers’ organization.

Articles 2 and 9. Admissible exceptions from the scope of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the legal provisions ensuring that the staff of the prison service enjoy the right to set up and join organizations of their own choosing and, if there are no such provisions, to amend section 1 of the Labour Act accordingly.

Article 3. Right of workers’ organizations to organize their administration and activities and to formulate their programmes. The right to strike. 1. Noting that sections 154-160 of the Labour Act contain no specific time limit within which mediation should be concluded, the Committee requests the Government to complement the Labour Act by setting specific and not excessively long time limits within which mediation efforts should be concluded, so as not to unduly impede the possibility for workers to have recourse to lawful strikes for the defence of their occupational rights and interests.

2. The Committee asks the Government to repeal section 160(2) of the Labour Act so as to limit the possibility for the authorities to refer collective disputes to compulsory arbitration only to cases involving: (1) essential services in the strict sense of the term; and (2) public servants exercising authority in the name of the State.

3. Recalling that essential services are only those the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population (see General Survey of 1994 on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraph 159), the Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any instrument issued by the Minister under section 175 of the Labour Act with a view to qualifying a particular service as essential, and any list of the specific services that are considered to be essential.

The Committee expresses the hope that the Government will take the necessary steps to amend the Labour Act, in keeping with its above comments, and requests the Government to inform it of the progress made in this regard.