Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Algeria (Ratification: 1962)

Other comments on C087

Observation

Direct Request

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The Committee notes the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), received on 1 September 2017, concerning the application in practice of certain provisions of Act No. 90-02 of 6 February 1990 relating to the prevention and settling of collective labour disputes and the exercise of the right to strike. The ITUC regrets the discretionary determination and the excessively long lists of essential services (section 43 of the Act) and services of public utility (sections 37 to 39 of the Act); forced requisitioning of workers on strike (sections 41 and 42 of the Act); and the overly broad jurisdiction of the authority to refer a conflict to the National Arbitration Commission (section 48 of the Act). The Committee notes the Government’s general reply indicating that the interruption of certain services, which it lists, risks causing severe crises and disrupting the proper functioning of the State institutions. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the texts setting out the essential services and the services of public utility under Act No. 90-02, and to provide examples of situations which gave grounds for recourse to sections 41, 42 and 48 of Act No. 90-02.

Articles 2, 3 and 5 of the Convention. Legislative amendments. The Committee recalls that the Government has been referring since 2011 to the process of the adoption of the Act issuing the Labour Code. The Committee based its previous comments on the draft bill provided by the Government in 2015. It notes that, in its reply to the conclusions made in June 2017 by the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards of the International Labour Conference, the Government indicated that the latest version of the draft bill has been transmitted to the independent trade unions for their opinion, and to local government sector departments. The Committee once again expresses the firm hope that the Government will take duly into account the following points that it reiterates based on the 2015 draft Labour Code, and that it will take all the necessary measures to amend the corresponding provisions of the final bill so as to ensure conformity with the Convention:

-Sections 510–512 of the draft bill: The Committee notes that sections 510 and 511 refer to organizations in the same occupations, branches or sectors of activity for the purpose of the establishment of “unions”, federations or confederations. These provisions have the effect of preventing trade unions, irrespective of the sector to which they belong, from establishing federations and confederations of their own choosing, in accordance with Article 5 of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend sections 510–511 by removing the reference to the same occupations, branches or sectors of activity, in order to remove any obstacle to the establishment by workers’ and employers’ organizations, irrespective of the sector to which they belong, of federations and confederations of their own choosing.
-Section 514: The Committee observes that this provision restricts the right to establish trade unions to persons who are originally of Algerian nationality or who acquired Algerian nationality at least five years earlier. This provision is contrary to Article 2 of the Convention, which recognizes the right to establish and join trade unions or employers’ organizations without distinction, including on the basis of nationality. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 514 so that it recognizes the right of all workers, without distinction on the basis of nationality, to establish trade unions.
-Section 517: The Committee requests the Government to clarify the last paragraph of this provision by specifying the publicity requirements applicable to trade unions when they are established.
-Section 525: The Committee requests the Government to submit for consultation with the social partners the second paragraph of this provision, which requires the publication in two national daily newspapers, one of which is in the national language, of information on the amendment of statutes or changes in executive bodies, so that they may be challenged by third parties.
-Section 534: The Committee notes that, under this section, gifts and bequests from foreign trade unions or organizations may only be received following authorization by the public authorities which verify the origin, amount, compatibility with the objective declared by the statutes of the trade union, and the constraints to which they may give rise. This provision is contrary to Articles 3 and 5 of the Convention, according to which national workers’ and employers’ organizations should have the right to receive financial assistance from international workers’ and employers’ organizations without being required to obtain prior authorization. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 534 by abolishing the requirement to obtain prior authorization from the public authorities.