Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - REPORT_NO389, June 2019

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

1. 38. The Committee last examined this case at its March 2016 meeting [see 377th Report, paras 27 to 34]. On that occasion, following the complaint lodged by the Confédération générale du travail-Force ouvrière (CGT-FO) concerning the Act of 20 August 2008 to renew social democracy and to reform working hours and its implementing regulations, the Committee immediately invited the Government to hold discussions with the social partners on the revision of the legislation in order to guarantee trade union organizations the right to freely choose their representatives.
2. 39. The Committee notes that, in a communication dated 27 August 2018, the Government informs that the legal provisions relating to the appointment of trade union delegates have evolved with a view to complementing the flexible interpretation given by the Court of Cassation to the relevant provisions of the law of 20 August 2008. The Government indicates that Article 6 of Act No. 2018-217 of 29 March 2018 provides for an important additional exemption from the requirement laid down by the Act of 20 August 2008 that the trade union delegate must be chosen by his organization from among candidates who have personally obtained at least 10 per cent of the votes cast in occupational elections. The Government specifies that under this reform, a representative trade union organization may now freely appoint a trade union delegate from among its candidates who have not reached the mentioned 10 per cent threshold in the following cases: (i) when none of the candidates nominated by the trade union organization for occupational elections has received at least 10 per cent of the votes cast in a personal capacity; (ii) when no candidate having obtained at least 10 per cent of the votes cast in occupational elections is left in the company or establishment; and (iii) when all the elected representatives who have obtained at least 10 per cent of the votes cast waive in writing their right to be appointed as trade union delegates. The Government stresses that it follows from the above that representative trade union organizations would never find themselves in a situation in which they could not choose their representative. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the reform of the legislation on the appointment of trade union delegates contributes, in conformity with the principles of freedom of association, to the preservation of the right of trade union organizations to freely choose their trade union delegates. In these circumstances, the Committee considers that this case does not call for further examination.