Definitive Report - REPORT_NO291, November 1993

1. 182. The complaint in this case is contained in a communication dated 29 March 1993 from the Federation of Workers of the Public Ministry of Peru (FETRAMIP). The Government furnished its observations in a communication dated 4 May 1993.
2. 183. Peru has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. The complainant's allegations

1. 184. In its communication of 29 March 1993, the Federation of Workers of the Public Ministry of Peru (FETRAMIP) alleges that the promulgation in September 1992 of Legislative Decree No. 25735 introduced a programme of voluntary resignations with financial incentives in the Public Ministry - the Department of the Public Prosecutor - and that staff who do not accept the implementation of the above-mentioned programme must undergo a process of evaluation and selection to decide the possible terminations (dismissals) to be made for reorganization and rationalization reasons. The complainant organization points out that this process of organic restructuring and administrative reorganization has led to chaos, and that the applicable regulations are themselves being constantly infringed.
2. 185. The complainant organization states that under this process the national leaders José Quesada Ramírez (Secretary-General of FETRAMIP), Amabila Zenaida Sandoval Quesada (secretary of defence of FETRAMIP), Lourdes Bálbaro Vasallo (secretary of economic affairs), Roberto Oriundo Rojas, Nilda Flor Nieto Silva, Wilfredo Gamanaiel Tataje Briceño, Manuel Francisco Palomino Ortíz, Clorinda Amancia Garnica Espezúa and Roger Antonio Angulo were "terminated" (dismissed) without account being taken of the job security guaranteed to trade union officials by the national Constitution, and as a reprisal for their status as union representatives. Finally, the complainant organization points out that the large majority of the workers dismissed were treated in the same fashion.

B. The Government's reply

1. 186. In its communication of 4 May 1993, the Government states that it had inherited an over-staffed and inefficient public administration which was the exclusive responsibility of previous administrations, since no coherent policy had been established to regulate the public sector activity. The Government therefore decided to adopt austerity measures to achieve an efficient state administration and restore the economic and financial stability of the country. Staff reductions were made by means of appropriate mechanisms to encourage the voluntary resignation of workers in the public administration, coupled with a process of staff selection based on various assessments. In this way, Legislative Decree No. 25735 authorizes the Department of the Public Prosecutor to carry out a process of restructuring and reorganization of the Public Ministry, and to issue the standards and administrative measures required with a view to evaluating the capacity and suitability of staff for posts which must necessarily be retained.
2. 187. The Government states that under Legislative Decree No. 25893, the Public Ministry was authorized to introduce a programme for the voluntary retirement, with financial incentives, of officials and assistants, with additional incentives, such as recognition of between three and five years of service, according to their period of service in the institution, for staff subject to the pension scheme of Legislative Decree No. 20530. In the same way, the text stipulated that staff who did not opt for the programme mentioned in the previous paragraph would be evaluated and selected, with a view to ensuring that the staff of the department responsible for the administration of justice in the country had the appropriate qualifications and moral integrity to carry out the high functions entrusted to it by the nation in the interests of society and to defend the basic rights of all those brought to justice. As a result, some workers were made redundant and terminated for reorganization and rationalization reasons, and the applicable social benefits were paid.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 188. The Committee notes that this case concerns the consequences at the trade union and labour level of the process of staff rationalization measures in the public administration. Specifically, the complainants criticize Legislative Decree No. 25735, the text of which stipulates that persons who do not opt for the programme of voluntary resignation with financial incentives must undergo a process of evaluation and selection to decide whether they should be dismissed from the Public Ministry, and that in application of this Decree other workers have been dismissed, including nine trade union officials of the FETRAMIP.
2. 189. The Committee notes the observations by the Government that this Decree was part of the measures adopted to help restore the economic stability and financial equilibrium in the country. The Committee observes that everything seems to indicate that the measures adopted are of a general nature and have not affected only trade union officials. Furthermore, the Committee notes that in its meeting of February 1993 it had examined similar allegations concerning rationalization and staff-reduction programmes, and it reiterates the conclusions which it made at that time (see 286th Report of the Committee, Case No. 1609 (Peru), paras. 434 and 435), in which it pointed out that under its mandate it is required to examine allegations concerning the violation of trade union rights, and therefore it can examine allegations concerning economic rationalization programmes and processes - whether or not they imply redundancies or the transfer of enterprises or services from the public to the private sector - only in so far as they might have given rise to acts of discrimination or interference against trade unions. As it did so on that occasion, the Committee can only regret that, in the present case, the rationalization and staff-reduction process in the Public Ministry - the Department of the Public Prosecutor - the Government did not consult or try to reach an agreement with the trade union organizations, the preference having been to proceed by decree. The Committee requests the Government to undertake such consultations if it is considered necessary to have recourse to any new staff reduction programmes.