Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - REPORT_NO313, March 1999

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 29. During its last examination of the case at its session of November 1998, the Committee had requested the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the reinstatement in their posts of 300 workers and 14 staff delegates from the Abidjan Ship Repair and Industrial Work Enterprise (CARENA) following strike movements started in March 1997; as regards the industrial dispute at the CARENA enterprise, the Committee had also requested the Government to resume negotiations on this matter and to keep it informed of decisions taken by the industrial advisory board made up of workers and employers involved in this industrial dispute under the supervision of experts from the Ministry of Employment (see 311th Report, para. 411(a) and (d)). Finally, the Committee had requested the Government to undertake inquiries regarding the various interventions by the police against the strikers who had participated in the strike movements of March 1997 and with regard to the attack on and occupation of Dignité's premises for a number of days in February 1998 (see 311th Report, para. 411(b) and (c)).
2. 30. In a communication dated 5 February 1999, the Government reiterates its previous comments on the events of March 1997 according to which Dignité staged an illegal strike, thus violating the agreement which the parties had reached, as well as violating the Labour Code and Decree No. 96-208 of 7 March 1996 on the conciliation procedure in the case of collective labour disputes. The Government declares that the Minister of Employment was right in declaring illegal the strike of 5 March 1997; in this context and taking into consideration the separation of power, the Government indicates that it cannot interfere to obtain the reinstatement of the workers dismissed following the strikes. In any case, the Government recalls that the workers in question can lodge a complaint with the competent national tribunals in order to have their rights reinstated. While taking note of this information, the Committee can only recall that the responsibility for declaring a strike illegal should not lie with the Government, but with an independent body which has the confidence of the parties (see 311th Report, para. 405); in this case, the declaration of the strike as illegal having been used by the employer to dismiss in an abusive way a considerable number of workers, the Committee deplores this violation of freedom of association and urges once again the Government to take all necessary measures in order to reinstate in their posts, if they so wish, all workers and staff delegates who were victims of anti-union discrimination. In addition, it requests the Government to resume negotiations with regard to the industrial dispute at the CARENA enterprise and to keep it informed of the decisions taken by the industrial advisory board which was set up in this context.
3. 31. As regards the various interventions by the police, the Government states once again that they were totally justified since they were dealing with matters of a very serious nature where public order could have been threatened; in this respect, the Government declares that as far as the events of March 1997 are concerned, not only had the workers used strike picketing to obstruct public streets but they had also threatened the installations of the enterprise and particularly the ships under construction. Concerning the protest march of 4 February 1998, the Government declares that Dignité never obtained the prior authorization from the Ministry of the Interior, in violation of Act No. 92-464 on the repression of certain forms of violence; this led to the intervention of national police units in order to prevent matters getting out of hand and disturbing public order. While taking note of this information, the Committee deplores the fact that the Government provides no new information and thus can only reiterate its previous conclusions according to which the use of police forces constituted an infringement of the trade union rights of the workers concerned. Finally, the Committee takes note of the fact that the Government paid an amount of 100 million francs CFA to the trade union organizations Dignité and Federation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Côte d'Ivoire (FESACI) in order for them to rebuild their headquarters since the labour exchange premises are entirely occupied by the General Union of Workers of Côte d'Ivoire (UGTCI).