Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - REPORT_NO349, March 2008

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

1. 91. The Committee last examined this case at its meeting in March 2006 [see 340th Report, paras 782–791] and, on that occasion, made the following recommendations:
   • (a) The Committee considers that, given the time that has elapsed since the alleged incidents (which according to the complainant union occurred in 2001 and 2002), the fact that some of the dismissed workers or persons claiming to have been threatened with dismissal have not asked the Ministry of Labour to take action, that some of the legal actions initiated by the complainant organization or its members have been unsuccessful for reasons of form (statute of limitations, inadequate identification of the defendants) or are pending, and in view of the concerns raised by the serious nature of the allegations during the period in question (including dismissals of union officials and members, threats of dismissal against workers who refuse to leave their union, promotion by the employer of a parallel union and violation of the collective agreement), the Committee requests the Government to undertake mediation measures between the complainant trade union, on the one hand, and the Río Lempa Hydroelectricity Board (CEL) and El Salvador Electricity Transmission Company, on the other, with a view to resolving the problems that remain pending in a manner satisfactory to both parties, in the light of the ILO’s principles of freedom of association and collective bargaining.
   • (b) The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in this respect.
   • (c) The Committee trusts that the Government will keep it informed of the ruling handed down concerning the dismissal of the trade union official Mr Roberto Efraín Acosta as soon as it is handed down.
2. 92. In a communication of 11 June 2007, the Government reports that the labour relations between the Trade Union of Workers of the Hydroelectricity Board (STSEL) and the CEL are currently being conducted in a climate of stability, to the extent that the parties are now at the stage of directly negotiating the revision of the collective labour agreement between them. In addition, it is reported that the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice definitively dismissed the case against the president of the CEL, as the trade union official Mr Roberto Efraín Acosta Cisneros, who was dismissed, was unable to prove that the then president of the CEL was directly responsible for that action.
3. 93. Given that the Government’s reply does not refer specifically to the outcome of the proceedings relating to the dismissal of the trade union official Mr Roberto Efraín Acosta, the Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the final outcome of those proceedings. Lastly, the Committee notes with interest the new climate of stability in the labour relations and in the process of reviewing the collective agreement between the STSEL and the CEL and hopes that this negotiation will make it possible to address the issues relating to the enjoyment of trade union rights.