Interim Report - REPORT_NO234, June 1984

1. 485. The Committee has already examined this case at its November 1983 meeting when it presented interim conclusions to the Governing Body [See 230th Report, paras. 660 to 678, approved by the Governing Body at its 224th Session, November 1983.] Subsequently the Government sent its further observations on this case in a communication dated 19 January 1984 and received on 24 February 1984. On 6 April 1984 the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) presented additional allegations which were immediately transmitted to the Government for its observations.
2. 486. Iran has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), or the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. Previous examination of the case

1. 487. In its previous examination of the case, the Committee noted that it concerned allegations of arrests and dismissals of workers after strike action in several car factories and in the Telecommunications Office in April and May 1982, respectively, and of the dissolution by administrative authority of 15 named trade unions since July 1982.
2. 488. The Committee took note of the Government's detailed statements describing the actual strike issues - hours of work and days off, and the role of Islamic Societies in factories - which were given as background information to the labour disputes issue which was the subject of specific allegations in this case. The Committee then turned to the two allegations which had been supported by specific evidence from the complainant: the arrest by security forces of 44 named workers after strike action in the Pars/General Motors Factory on 22 April 1982, and the dissolution of 15 named trade unions by administrative action. The Committee took note of the Government's statement that 15 of the 44 named workers had been arrested and tried on charges of leading and participating in disturbances and of relations with illegal terrorist groups; it noted that they had subsequently been dismissed. As regards the remaining 29 named workers the Committee noted that the Government did not supply any details as to the allegation that they had been arrested after the strike action in April 1982 and it requested the Government to send its observations on this allegation as soon as possible. Regarding the alleged dissolution of 15 named trade unions by administrative action, the Committee noted the Government's statement that the activities of their Executive Boards had been declared to be illegal for failure to comply with the national law i.e. failure to hold new elections before the expiry of the legal mandate of the various Boards.
3. 489. In' these circumstances the Governing Body, on the Committee's recommendation, approved the following conclusions:
   • (a) as regards the arrest and dismissals of 15 named workers after strike action in April 1982, the Committee, while noting the contradictory reasons for the arrests given by the Government and the complainant, can only recall that during cases of work stoppages the intervention by security forces should be limited to the maintenance of public order. Furthermore, it recalls that the arrest and dismissal of strikers on a large scale involve serious dangers of abuse and place freedom of association in grave jeopardy;
   • (b) as regards the alleged arrest of 29 other named workers as a consequence of the same strike action in April 1982, the Committee notes that the Government does not deny that they were arrested at that time, but merely states that they are still employed at the workplace concerned. It accordingly asks the Government to supply its observations on this aspect of the case as soon as possible;
   • (c) as regards the dissolution by administrative authority of 15 named trade unions since July 1982, the Committee observes that, despite the Government's statement that such action was due to non-compliance with national laws concerning the holding of trade union elections, no such provision appears in the Labour Code. The Committee accordingly draws the Government's attention to the principle that workers' organisations should not be dissolved or suspended by administrative authority; it requests the Government to rescind the dissolution orders and to keep the Committee informed of any steps taken to this end.

B. Further developments

1. 490. In its communication of 19 January 1984, the Government provides clarification of its statement concerning the alleged dissolution of trade unions in its previous reply as reflected in paragraph 671 of the Committee's 230th Report. The text of the Government's reply should read as follows: "As to the claim towards a number of workers' trade unions, if the trade union violates its legal duties and the laws and regulations of the country or if the conditions for the formation of organisations not be followed by them, their illegal activities will be prevented and may be dissolved. In the case of the trade unions mentioned in the ICFTU letter, because the legal term of the Board of Directors expired and new elections were not held, the activities of the members of the Board of Directors were declared to be illegal." The Government points out that the possibility of dissolution of workers' organisations is based on the provisions of paragraph (e) of article 29 of the Labour Code, together with paragraph (b) of article 12 of Procedures for the Workers' Organisations, paragraph 2 of article 10 and paragraphs 1 and 2 of article 35 of the Model Statute which is generally adopted by all of the trade unions. The Government supplies copies of the above-mentioned provisions which read as follows: article 12 (of the Procedures) the Extraordinary General Assembly will decide on the establishment of the following items, two-thirds of the membership has to be present, and three-quarters of those present must decide unanimously on any vote ... (b) the dissolution of the union and the election of the workers' members of the liquidating body; article 10 (of the Model Statute) the General Assembly which is composed of union members ... will meet in the presence of at least two-thirds of its members to decide on the following questions, decisions of the General Assembly must, to be acceptable and binding, be taken by the majority of three-quarters of the members present ... (2) the dissolution of the trade union and the election of the workers' members of the liquidating body; article 35 the trade union will be dissolved in the following cases: (1) in the case of a vote for this by the General Assembly; (2) when a final judgment is handed down by the competent instances. In addition, the Government cites article 13 of the Procedures for the Workers' Organistions which states that the Executive Body has the responsibility for managing the union's affairs and defending the occupational interests of its members. The titular members of the Executive Body must always be of an unequal number, not more than seven, who will be elected for a period of two years; they can be re-elected.
2. 491. On the basis of the above-quoted provisions, continues the Government, none of the unions named by the complainant have, to date, been dissolved, but in accordance with article 13 of the Procedures for the Workers' Organisations, since the legal terms of the Executive Boards had expired and no new elections had been held, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, for the purpose of preventing illegal acts, announced that the continuation of the activities of the former executives as members of the Board, was contrary to regulations. The Government therefore maintains that the complainant's allegations and the Committee's conclusions concerning the so-called "dissolution" by administrative authorities and the request for a rescission of the so-called dissolution orders are not correct.
3. 492. The Government goes on to stress again that the reasons behind the disturbances which were the subject of the complaint were not related to the workers defending their social and economic interests and that no workers' organisations were involved such as would warrant the Committee making reference to the right to strike as being one of the principle means available to workers to defend their economic and social interests.
4. 493. The Government states that 44 persons were arrested on charges of causing disturbances in the Pars factory, but that the reason for their arrest was not, as stated in the Committee's conclusions, that they had participated in strikes. The Government repeats that subsequently 15 persons were dismissed from the factory after being tried and sentenced by the court for their relations with terrorist groups; according to the Government the rest of the workers returned to work at the factory.
5. 494. Lastly the Government poses the question as to why the Committee, in its previous examination of the case, did not conclude on the lack of any basis for the complainant's allegations concerning the following points: the so-called arrests of hundreds of workers and dismissals of far larger numbers of workers from the Khavar/Mercedes Benz, Zanyard, General Motors, Khod Row Sazan, Volvo, Saypa and a number of other factories; the alleged issuance of a circular by the Government concerning the increase of working hours to 44 hours a week and declaring Thursday, previously the workers' day off, to be a normal working day; the false accusation that the Islamic Councils and the Islamic Associations are the regime's organs of suppression; the false allegation concerning strikes at the Telecommunications Office and the arrest and imprisonment of a large number of employees; the supposed announcement by the Government of the dissolution of 15 trade unions.
6. 495. On 6 April 1984, the ICFTU presented further allegations of anti-union repression in various Iranian factories in February, March and April 1983. The Government has not yet transmitted its observations on these new allegations.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 496. The Committee notes that the outstanding issues in this case relate to the alleged arrest of 29 named workers as a consequence of a strike in the Pars/General Motors factory in April 1982 concerning which the Government had merely stated that they were still employed at the workplace concerned, as well as a request for information regarding the dissolution by administrative authority of 15 named trade unions since July 1982.
2. 497. On the first outstanding issue, the Committee notes that the Government repeats the information which it gave earlier concerning the 29 persons allegedly arrested after strike action in April 1982 to the effect that they returned to work at the factory whereas 15 other persons were tried and sentenced by the courts, not for participation in disturbances, but for their relations with the terrorist groups. In view of the fact that the Government admits that 44 persons were arrested at that time on charges of causing disturbances in the Pars factory, the Committee deduces that the 29 persons who were not dismissed were released from custody without any charges being brought against them and without having to go to trial. In this respect, the Committee can only regret that the Government does not give more detailed information as to the reasons for the original arrests. The Committee would recall, as it has in the past, that in cases where trade union leaders who have been arrested have not been placed at the disposal of the judicial authorities but where the police released them without apparently having discovered any evidence which would justify any charge being brought against them, it has considered that it is one of the fundamental rights of the individual that a detained person should not only be informed of the reasons for his arrest and of the charges brought against him but also that he should be brought without delay before the appropriate judge, this right being recognised in such instruments as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. [See, for example, 187th Report, Case No. 840 (Sudan), para. 34; 218th Report, Case No. 1148 (Nicaragua), para. 123.]
3. 498. As regards the second outstanding issue in this case, the Committee notes that the Government corrects the Committee's earlier interpretation of its statement regarding the alleged dissolution of 15 named trade unions. In particular, the Committee notes from the copies of the various provisions - legislative or otherwise - provided by the Government, that the situation which existed in those trade unions, namely the failure to hold new elections before the expiry of the legal mandate of the various executive boards, is not an automatic reason for dissolution of the organisations concerned. Since the Government states that the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs announced the continuation of the activities of the former executives of the 15 unions concerned to be contrary to the regulations, the Committee understands that the organisations are not in fact dissolved but that they have no legitimate executive bodies to manage their activities. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any further elections to ensure that these organisations can function effectively.