Interim Report - REPORT_NO190, March 1979

1. 285. The complaint presented by the St. Vincent Workers' Union is contained in a letter dated 29 June 1977; it was communicated to the Government on 13 July 1977 for its observations. In spite of repeated requests, the Government has sent no reply, even though the Committee requested it in May 1978 to transmit its observations as a matter of urgency, in November 1978, it had pointed out that, in accordance with standard procedure, it might present at its next session a report on the substance of the matter even if the information or observations requested had not been received.
2. 286. The United Kingdom has ratified the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84), and the Right to organise and collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), and has stated that their provisions are applicable to St. Vincent without modification. It has also ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and has stated that it is applicable to St. Vincent with certain modifications (these concern the composition of the executive Committee of trade unions, secret ballots in certain cases and the use that can be made of trade union funds).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 287. The complaint involves a claim by the complainant to recognition by the Government Agricultural Development Corporation. The directors of this establishment are all government appointed and its chairman is a member of the Cabinet. The complainant has sent copies of a number of letters which have been exchanged on the subject. It is apparent from these letters that the union, in a letter dated 29 March 1977, requested recognition by the Agricultural Development Corporation as sole bargaining agent for workers employed on the estates at Richmond. The letter proposed that, according to normal procedure, the General Manager of the corporation should request the Labour Commissioner to take a representational ballot poll to verify the union's claim to the right of recognition. In a letter dated 31 May 1977, the management of the Corporation replied that, in its view, the union was not in a position to bargain on behalf of the workers on the estate. In a letter to the Prime Minister of St. Vincent on the same day, the union complained that the management had unilaterally increased wages instead of engaging in collective bargaining. Finally, in a letter dated 2 June 1977 to the General Manager of the Corporation, the union stated that the only condition to bargain on behalf of these workers was to be representative of 51 per cent of them; this situation had to be established in a written representational ballot poll taken by the Labour Commission. The General Manager had allegedly requested the latter not to take a poll and the union drew the employer's attention to the fact that he was not entitled to interrogate workers personally regarding their affiliations.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 288. The Committee regrets the delay taken by the Government in replying to the stated allegations. It wishes to emphasise that the object of the special procedure for the protection of freedom of association is to ensure that it is observed de facto and de jure; the machinery that has been set up protects governments against unreasonable accusations, but the governments in turn must recognise the importance, for the sake of their own reputation, of transmitting precise replies to the complaints presented for their objective examination.
2. 289. The Committee has already been called upon to examine a case relating to St. Vincent in which the allegations concerned the refusal of the Government, in its capacity as employer, to recognise the right of a trade union to bargain collectively, At the time, the Committee drew attention to the provisions of Article 3 of Convention No. 84 which provides that all practicable measures shall be taken to assure to trade unions which are representative of the workers concerned the right to conclude collective agreements with employers or employers' organisations. It added that Article 4 of Convention No. 98 provides that measures appropriate to national conditions shall be taken, where necessary, to encourage and promote the full development and utilisation of machinery for voluntary negotiations between employers or employers' organisations and workers' organisations, with a view to the regulation of terms and conditions of employment by means of collective agreements. The Committee had emphasised the importance it attaches to the principle that employers, including government authorities in their capacity as employers, should recognise for the purposes of collective bargaining the organisations representative of the workers.
3. 290. In the case concerned, the Government had not denied that the trade union involved represented a majority of the workers in the sector; moreover, there had not been any rivalry between trade union organisations. On the basis of the information at its disposal, the Committee had concluded that the attitude adopted by the Government did not seem to have been consistent with the principles contained in Conventions Nos. 84 and 98, which advocated the collective bargaining procedure as a means of fixing conditions of employment. Subsequently, the Government had recognised the right of the trade union to bargain collectively on behalf of the workers concerned.
4. 291. In the present case, the complainant union has requested the organisation of a ballot poll to establish, in accordance with what is described as normal procedure in the country, its capacity to represent the relevant sector. In recent cases, the Committee has expressed the view that the competent authorities should have the power to proceed to an objective verification of any claim by the union that it represents the majority of the workers in an undertaking, provided that such a claim appears to be plausible. In the case of a government establishment, the authorities should give the necessary instructions for the most representative workers' trade union to be at least recognised, on this objective basis.