Definitive Report - REPORT_NO150, November 1975

1. 20. The Association of Diplomatic Mission Drivers (Switzerland) submitted its complaint in two communications dated 3 and 12 December, 1974. This complaint was transmitted to the Government, which submitted comments by a letter of 31 January 1975.
2. 21. The Ivory Coast has ratified 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).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 22. In their communications, the complainants state that the three drivers of the Permanent Mission of the Ivory Coast in Geneva joined the Association of Diplomatic Mission Drivers, despite an oral warning by the Ambassador not to do so. The latter is said to have threatened to dismiss drivers who joined that Association. The drivers are said to have joined secretly, so as to avoid reprisals and the loss of their jobs, which would have meant their expulsion from Switzerland.
2. 23. In his reply, the Ambassador, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Ivory Coast in Geneva, denies that his three drivers, of Ivory Coast nationality, ever joined the complainant organisation either openly or secretly. He states that freedom of association is respected in his country and that the persons concerned, who were subjected to all types of pressure from that organisation, did not join it because they considered, quite freely, that it was not in their interests to do so. The Ambassador states that he never made the threats of which he is accused and has never thought of dismissing his drivers. He submitted with his letter statements from the three drivers, in which they deny having ever joined the complainant Association or being threatened by the Ambassador and in which they protest against the actions of the Association. They add that they already belong to the Union of Ivory Coast Drivers.

24. The Committee notes that the Ambassador, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Ivory Coast, and the three drivers concerned, categorically deny the various accusations of the complainant. In these circumstances, the Committee considers that the latter has not provided any evidence of violation of freedom of association. It therefore recommends the Governing Body to decide that this case calls for no further examination.