Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - REPORT_NO344, March 2007

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

1. 64. The Committee made the following recommendations at its meeting in March 2006 [see 340th Report, para. 89]:
   • With regard to the denial of legal personality to the Private Security Services Industry Workers’ Trade Union of El Salvador (SITRASEPRIES), the Committee recalls that it had already pointed out that, in accordance with the principles of freedom of association, only the armed forces and the police can be excluded from the right to establish trade unions and all other workers, including private security agents, should freely be able to establish trade union organizations of their own choosing. Consequently, as it did at its March 2004 and June 2005 meetings, the Committee urges the Government to take the measures necessary to ensure that legal personality is granted to SITRASEPRIES without delay. Finally, the Committee requests the Government again to transmit the observations of 17 May 2004 regarding the alleged death threats against five officials of the Union of Textile and Related Industry Workers of El Salvador (STITAS), as these observations have not been received.
2. 65. In its communication of 21 June 2006, with regard to the Committee’s request that the Government take the measures necessary to ensure that legal personality is granted to SITRASEPRIES without delay, the Government states that, until the Constitution of the Republic is amended, it will not be possible in the short term to grant legal personality to SITRASEPRIES. Furthermore, with regard to the alleged death threats against five officials of STITAS, the Government states that, as this is not an offence for which charges are brought automatically, those concerned were invited to file charges with the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic or the competent courts.
3. 66. The Committee notes the Government’s statement in its communication of 21 June 2006 that, until the Constitution of the Republic is amended, it will not be possible in the short term to grant legal personality to SITRASEPRIES. The Committee observes that since this communication was sent, El Salvador has ratified Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 (on
4. 6 September 2006) and, recalling that Convention No. 87 applies to private security agents, the Committee urges the Government to take the measures necessary to grant legal personality to SITRASEPRIES. With regard to the alleged death threats against five officials of STITAS, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government and invites those concerned to lodge complaints with the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic or the competent courts.