Definitive Report - Report No 79, 1965

1. 33. The original complaint of the General Confederation of Labour of the Congo (C.G.T.C.) is contained in a communication addressed directly to the I.L.O on 25 September 1963. The text was transmitted to the Government for observations with a letter dated 4 October 1963. The complainants supplied further information in support of their complaint in a series of communications the texts of which were transmitted to the Government as soon as they were received. The Government submitted its observations on the case in a communication dated 28 January 1964.
2. 34. The Congo (Leopoldville) has ratified neither the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), nor the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 35. In its complaint C.G.T.C, which is affiliated to the World Federation of Trade Unions, claimed to have existed for three years and to have taken pains to respect legality ever since its creation. In spite of this attitude, the complainants stated, and although C.G.T.C had submitted its statutes to the authorities as long ago as 1962 in order to obtain recognition, this recognition had not yet been granted at the time of the complaint.
2. 36. It appears from the documents attached to the complainants' communication of 10 October 1963 that recognition was first refused to C.G.T.C because the statutes that it had submitted did not contain the provisions required by law. The main points at issue concerned the composition and competence of the governing bodies, the procedure for dissolution, the power of members to check the financial administration, and the procedure for the modification of statutes.
3. 37. Judging by the documents provided by the complainants it would seem that C.G.T.C revised its statutes in consequence of the observations made about them by the authorities, who considered the new statutes to be satisfactory. Indeed, a letter addressed by the Ministry of Labour to the Chief Administrator of the Police Service, of which the complainants have submitted a copy, contains the statement " You will find attached a copy of the modified statutes. These statutes are in conformity with the legal provisions regarding occupational association. I should be grateful if you would tell me whether your Service has any objection to my Ministry's conferring official recognition on this trade union."
4. 38. In its observations the Government pointed out first that recognition could be obtained only if the statutes submitted fulfilled the legal conditions, and then that the activities of the organisation requesting recognition must not constitute a danger to public order.
5. 39. The Government stated in this connection that the Police Service had indicated to the Ministry of Labour that the activities of C.G.T.C might constitute a danger to public order, since the organisation had " contacts with subversive movements and hostile foreign persons ". The Police Service, the Government continued, had therefore asked that recognition of the association in question should be postponed until the confidential inquiry being carried out had been completed. Since the Police Service had not indicated to the Ministry of Labour at the time whether it could grant recognition, it would give a favourable reply, the Government stated, only if it was certain that the occupational association in question would confine its activities to defending the economic, occupational and social interests of its members.
6. 40. Considering the case at its 36th Session in February 1964, the Committee observed that the information then available to it showed that the organisation that had submitted the complaint had complied with the formalities required by the Ministry of Labour as a condition for its recognition and that the only remaining obstacle was a security investigation that was still being carried out by the Police Service.
7. 41. The Committee therefore requested the Government to inform it in due course of the decision taken with regard to the request for recognition made by C.G.T.C and, if the request should be rejected, of the reasons for refusing the petition of the organisation.
8. 42. The Ministry of Labour stated in a communication dated 24 July 1964 that the matter had been referred to the Prime Minister so that a final decision could be taken on it.
9. 43. On 10 August 1964 C.G.T.C informed the Director-General that it had been officially recognised on 7 August 1964 as an occupational organisation and stated that there was no need for further investigation of its complaint.
10. 44. The Government confirmed, in a communication dated 3 September 1964, that the General Confederation of Labour of the Congo had received official recognition through Decision No. 3/64 dated 7 August 1964.