Interim Report - REPORT_NO198, November 1979

COMPLAINT CONCERNING THE OBSERVANCE BY URUGUAY OF THE FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND PROTECTION OF THE RIGHT TO ORGANISE CONVENTION, 1948 (No. 87), AND THE RIGHT TO ORGANISE AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING CONVENTION, 1949 (No. 98), PRESENTED BY A NUMBER OF DELEGATES TO THE 61st SESSION OF THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONFERENCE (1976) UNDER ARTICLE 26 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ILO

• COMPLAINT CONCERNING THE OBSERVANCE BY URUGUAY OF THE FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND PROTECTION OF THE RIGHT TO ORGANISE CONVENTION, 1948 (No. 87), AND THE RIGHT TO ORGANISE AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING CONVENTION, 1949 (No. 98), PRESENTED BY A NUMBER OF DELEGATES TO THE 61st SESSION OF THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONFERENCE (1976) UNDER ARTICLE 26 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ILO
  5. 5 A number of trade union organisations, including the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) and the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), have presented allegations of violations of freedom of association in Uruguay in addition, three delegates to the 61st Session of the International Labour Conference (June 1976) presented a complaint under article 26 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation to the effect that the Government of Uruguay was not securing the effective observance of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98). Both of these instruments have been ratified by Uruguay.
  6. 6 The Committee has examined all aspects of this case on a number of occasions. It has submitted for the last time in its 195th Report provisional conclusions which were approved by the Governing Body at its session held in Hay-June 1979 (210th Session).
  7. 7 Shortly before and after this last examination of the case, the Committee has received further communications from the complaining organisations as follows: a letter dated 23 May 1979 from the world Federation of Trade Unions and a letter dated 14 September 1979 from the National Workers' Convention of Uruguay (CNT), sent from Zeist (Netherlands). The Government of Uruguay, for its part, has sent additional information in communications dated 27 September and 5 November 1979.

A. Previous examination of the case by the Committee

1. 8. For a number of years, the Committee has had occasion to examine several complaints dealing with different aspects of the trade union situation in the country. It has stressed the abnormal character of this situation for the Uruguayan trade union movement as a whole, ever since the change of regime which took place in June 1973. It is a fact that Uruguayan trade unions cannot carry out the activities proper to such unions because their recognition by the authorities and by the employers hinges upon their legal status - and that status has not yet been defined by law: they thus have an existence in fact but not legally.
2. 9. The Government has referred on more than one occasion to the subversive activities which it had to face, in order to explain the exceptional measures adopted, particularly in regard to trade unions. The Committee has recalled, in this connection, the need to avoid confusing the performance by trade unions of their own specific activities, that is to say the defence and promotion of the professional interests of the workers, with the possible conduct by some of their members of other activities, foreign to the trade union field. The liability at penal law which might attach to these persons as a result of such acts should in no case lead to measures calculated to deprive the trade unions themselves, or their leaders as a body, of their freedom of action. The Government has also stated that the process of normalisation in the trade union field must be viewed in the wider framework of the political and institutional normalisation of the country as a whole. In this connection, the Committee has stressed that while it is true that the respect of trade union freedom is closely connected with the respect of public liberties in general, it is important, subject to that reservation, to draw a clear distinction between the recognition of freedom of association on the one hand and questions relating to the political evolution of the country concerned on the other. The trade union legislation of a country and the reform of its political institutions are two totally distinct questions.
3. 10. The Committee has examined the preliminary draft of the law on professional associations, the text of which had been forwarded to it by the Government. It notes that this text contains some positive aspects, but it has formulated observations concerning a number of other provisions of the draft which do not seem compatible with some of the principles of freedom of association, on the recommendation of the Committee, the Governing Body, at its session of May-June 1979, took note of the Government's statement to the effect that these observations will be taken into consideration in the preparation of the final text of the draft to be submitted to the Council of State and that the Government was carrying out consultations on this draft with worker and employer organisations. The Governing Body stressed how important it was that the law thus being drafted should be promulgated very shortly and that its final text should be in complete harmony with the rules embodied in ILO Conventions Nos. 87 and 98, which have been ratified by Uruguay. It urged the Government to indicate the date on which it expects the final text of the law to be adopted and applied, and to provide all further information on any developments which may occur in the matter.
4. 11. The Committee has moreover stressed its concern, especially in view of the situation described above, regarding the detention of many trade unionists (whose names, and often also trade union functions, had been indicated in the complaints). On several occasions, and particularly in may 1979, the Committee has given, in an annex to its report, the information supplied by the Government on the trade unionists concerned. At its May-June 1979 session the Governing Body, on the recommendation of the Committee:
5. (1) noted the latest information communicated by the Government, in particular the release of ten trade unionists mentioned in the complaints;
6. (2) noted also that only very recently, a number of trade unionists - such as Rosario Pietraroia and Ruben Acacuso - have been sentenced to severe terms of imprisonment and expressed regret at the fact that the Government has not furnished fuller information - including the texts of the judgments embodying the sentences - regarding the accusations against the trade unionists who were prosecuted or sentenced for acts which the Government considers as going beyond the framework of trade union activities;
7. (3) requested the Government to furnish detailed information on the case of Mr. Manuel Piñeiro Pena, trade union organiser of UNTMRA, whose release was under consideration after he had served his sentence.

B. Latest communications received

1. 12. In its letter of 23 May 1979 the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) points out, in the first place, that the number of joint commissions actually functioning is far below that indicated by the Government in May 1978 and that, at present, the authorities even try to hinder their setting up. The complainant mentions two specific instances (the "Aurora" textile factory and the "Banco Comercial") and adds that in certain cases workers who request the setting up of such commissions are being subjected to pressure and persecution.
2. 13. The WFTU further states that trade union premises, which are the property of the workers' organisations, have been closed, thus depriving the trade unions, and their leaders as a whole, of their means of action, and that government bodies have occupied the premises in question. The WFTU mentions the case of the Unified National Trade Union of Construction Workers and Allied Trades (SUNCA), whose premises have apparently become the barracks of the Grenadier Guards, the case of the National Union of Metalworkers and Allied Trades (UNTMRA), whose premises have apparently become the headquarters of Police Section 12, of the National Workers' Convention (CNT), whose premises have apparently become a centre for the women police of Montevideo (and whose equipment is being used by department No. 6 of the police), the case of the Metalworkers' Federation, the use of whose premises has been requested by the Police Commissioner of section No. 24, the case of the Federation of Primary School Teachers' Unions and that of the Secondary School Teachers' Trade Union, whose premises have also apparently become para-military installations.
3. 14. The WFTU emphasises that all trade union activities have been suppressed six years ago, that the experience with joint commissions has been negative and that the Government alleges that the steps to be taken in trade union matters must be tied to the process of "national reconstruction". The WFTU draws particular attention to the numerous dismissals continuously taking place on the basis of institutional Act No. 7 (40 members of the staff of the Clínicas Hospital were thus dismissed in January 1979). The WFTU concludes that these dilatory tactics, obviously in expectation of the complete suppression of all attempts at free trade union activity, show the illusory character of the promise of trade union freedom.
4. 15. The WFTU also points out that the state of health of Rosario Pietraroia and of Gerardo Cuesta is precarious. It reiterates that, contrary to the Government's statements, Oscar Tassino Atzú (trade union organiser of the AUTE) has disappeared after his arrest on 19 July 1977, and quotes statements by eyewitnesses in support. The complainant adds that Alicia Suárez is being illegally held in prison after having served her sentence and that new waves of arrests, followed by torture, have occurred in February and March 1979; the prisoners include, in particular, Héctor Giacobone (secretary to the Meatworkers' Federation), of the meat-packing sector, and César Gómez, of the banking sector. In conclusion, the WFTU reiterates its request for the establishment of a commission of inquiry.
5. 16. The National Workers' Convention (CNT) asserts, in its letter of 14 September 1979, that the police headquarters of Montevideo has notified the Association of Bank Employees of Uruguay (AEBU) on 26 July 1979 that its legal personality was "without effect", in accordance with Decree No. 622 1973 dated 1 August 1973. The complainant attaches a photocopy of this notification and adds that the deduction from wages of the trade union dues of AEBU members has been discontinued. The complainant also quotes a decision of the Ministry of the Interior (dated 24 July 1979) ordering the President of AEBU to hand over within 30 days to the National Office of information and Research a list of members of a new governing board consisting of persons having no "adverse past records", so that the authorities may, upon request, later allow artistic and cultural events to take place under the supervision of the above-mentioned National Office.
6. 17. The National Workers' Convention further alleges that pressure is being exerted on the workers, even those who are under arrest, to make them join together in a nationalist trade union. The authorities have allegedly filmed the delegates at a meeting in the "Sadil" textile factory because the latter refused to allow the military to participate in the meeting. The CNT also expresses its concern regarding living conditions in the prisons where- the trade union leaders are detained (under-nourishment, absence of adequate medical care and sanitation, total lack of medicaments, ill-treatment and repression). The CNT mentions in particular the case of Rosario Pietraroia who has lost an eye for lack of proper medical care.
7. 18. The Government states, in its letter dated 27 September 1979, that the period has now concluded during which the authorities received suggestions from the worker and employer organisations on the preliminary draft of the bill on professional associations. The comments made by the organisations consulted have been transmitted to the group of experts which had drawn up the preliminary draft. The latter is now analysing the observations submitted, as well as the comments by the ILO supervisory organs. The Government also states that once the study and adoption of the preliminary draft is completed, these experts will submit their final report to the executive branch of the Government. The Government will then take a decision on the matter; it has the intention of submitting the final draft law to the Council of State by 15 December 1979.
8. 19. Moreover, the Government indicates that in its communication of 5 November that the executive intends to suggest to the legislative authorities a rapid examination of the Bill mentioned above which could be done in the legislative paper accompanying it. In addition, the Government supplies information on the persons listed in the annexes to the 195th Report; it appears from this, in particular, that Manuel Piñeiro Pena and Alicia Dinorah Suárez Turcati have been released. It also states that Hector Agustin Giacobone Marrero and César Clelio Gómez Mello have been brought before the military courts.

C. Conclusions of the Committee

1. 20. The Committee takes note of the information supplied by the Government on the state of the preliminary work on the Act concerning professional associations. It notes, in particular, that the comments made by the ILO supervisory organs are now being examined, that the final draft of the Act is due to be submitted to the Council of State by 15 December 1979 and that the Government will suggest that it should examine it rapidly. The Committee wishes to reiterate that, after six years of serious restrictions upon trade union activities, there is a very urgent need to promulgate and implement a legislation which recognises the right for all workers, without any distinction whatsoever, to set up occupational organisations and the right of these organisations to function and operate freely, in accordance with the various Conventions on freedom of association.
2. 21. In addition, the Government has sent, at the commencement of the Committee's session, certain information on the situation of the trade unionists listed in the annexes to the 195th Report. The Committee intends to examine this information at its next session. Nevertheless, it notes now that Manuel Piñeiro Pena (see paragraph 11) and Alicia Dinorah Suárez Turcati (see paragraph 15) have been released. It also notes that Héctor Agustin Giacobone Marrero and César Clelio Grimez Mello (see paragraph 15) have been brought before the military courts.
3. 22. The complainants have, however, submitted new complaints, some of them recently, to which the Government has not yet replied. These complaints deal more particularly with the following points: (a) the dilatory attitude of the authorities regarding a return to freedom of association (including various forms of pressure exerted on the workers, the negative experience of joint commissions and new dismissals based on Institutional Act No. 7); (b) the continued occupation of trade union premises; (c) measures taken against the AEBU; and (d) conditions of detention and situation of various arrested trade unionists.