Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

1. The Committee notes the Government's report. It also notes the communication from the Swedish Trade Union Confederation.

2. The Committee notes the information contained in the Government's report on the discussions held within the ILO Committee set up under Convention No. 144 on the possibility of denouncing the Convention, following a request from the Swedish Employers' Confederation (SAF). The SAF asserts that there is a monopoly of stevedoring activities in Swedish ports resulting, among other things, from the ratification of the Convention. It alleges that the monopoly situation hinders the development of new cargo-handling methods and impairs competitive capacity in the sector. Furthermore, it alleges that the Government does not give effect to the provisions of Article 3 of the Convention which requires that registers of dockworkers be established and maintained in accordance with the Article. The Swedish Trade Union Confederation, for its part, contends that provisions of the Convention do not create or maintain a stevedoring monopoly in ports. At the end of the discussions, the ILO Committee decided that the Convention did not imply introduction or maintenance of a monopoly. It decided that the Convention did not impede the establishment of more than one stevedore contractor in every port. Nor did it prevent an enterprise with another principle activity from carrying on connected activities in the ports. The ILO Committee resolved not to recommend that Sweden avail itself of the opportunity for repudiation of the Convention.

3. In its communication addressed to the ILO in November 1997, the Swedish Trade Union Confederation states that the Convention is one of the pillars of stevedoring activities in Swedish ports which are renowned for their efficiency. To try and alter such a positive situation would, in the Confederation's view, be a mistake in political and industrial terms.

4. The Committee appreciates the information supplied in the Government's report on the discussions that took place. Noting that the Government supplies no express comments on the observations of the Swedish Dockworkers' Union referred to in its previous direct request, the Committee asks the Government to make such comments as it considers appropriate on the observations made by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation. Furthermore, noting that government and employers' representatives of the ILO Committee consider that the keeping of registers of dockworkers by the unions or the stevedoring companies cannot be regarded as giving effect to Article 3 of the Convention, the Committee recalls that the purpose of maintaining registers, as required by both this Article and Recommendation No. 145, is the regularization and stabilization of the employment and income of dockworkers, regardless of the authority or authorities responsible for maintaining them, since this is determined by national law or practice. Therefore, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the effect given to Article 3 of the Convention and Recommendation No. 145 above-mentioned and to supply, as requested in point V of the report form, information on the practical application of the Convention, including for instance extracts of reports, particulars of the numbers of dockworkers on the registers and of variations in such numbers during the period covered by the report.