CMNT_TITLE

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Democratic Republic of the Congo (RATIFICATION: 2001)

Other comments on C087

Observation

Direct Request

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Article 3 of the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to take measures to amend section 11 of Order No. 12/CVAB.MIN/TPS/113/2005 of 26 October 2005, which prohibits striking workers from entering and remaining on work premises affected by the strike.

Furthermore, the Committee asked the Government to adopt measures relating to section 326 of the Labour Code and suggested including a provision stipulating that penalties against strikers must be proportionate to the offence committed and that no prison sentence shall be imposed unless criminal or violent acts have been committed. The Government indicates that it agrees and that, in any event, the penalties provided for in the section in question only set “maximums”. According to the Government, the prison sentence established in section 326 is not handed down to all strikers, but to those who do not comply with the procedure for collective work stoppages and who resort to acts and threats intended to force other workers to participate in a collective work stoppage or to prevent others from working or from returning to work.

Moreover, the Committee previously noted the Government’s agreement to amend section 28 of Act No. 016/2002 on the establishment, organization and functioning of labour courts so as to allow recourse to the labour court, should conciliation and mediation procedures have been exhausted, only on the basis of a voluntary decision of the parties to the dispute. The Committee notes that, according to the information provided by the Government in its report, the proceedings of the 33rd session of the National Labour Council, which was held from 25 October to 1 November 2017 in Kinshasa, did not address the amendment of this section.

Article 4. In its previous comments, the Committee noted, as it had in the past, the Government’s agreement to amend section 251 of the Labour Code to ensure that the issue of the dissolution of trade union organizations will be regulated by their union constitutions and rules.

Noting, once again, with regret that the above provisions of the Labour Code, despite the adoption of Act No. 16/010 of 15 July 2016 (amending and supplementing the Labour Code), and those of Act No. 016/2002 (on the establishment, organization and functioning of the labour courts) are not yet in line with the requirements of the Convention, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to amend the legislation in the near future. The Committee also requests the Government, once again, to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to amend section 11 of Order No. 12/CVAB.MIN/TPS/113/2005 of 26 October 2005.