Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 297, March 1995

1. 306. The complaint was lodged in a communication from the Latin American Central of Workers (CLAT) dated 7 April 1994. The Government sent its observations in a communication dated 10 October 1994.
2. 307. Peru has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, 1948 (No. 87), as well as the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. The complainant's allegations

1. 308. In its communication dated 7 April 1994 the CLAT alleges that on 5 October 1993 the leaders of the Workers' Trade Union of the San Antonio Vitarte S.A. Clinic were dismissed for gross misconduct during working hours (printing and distribution at the workplace of leaflets attacking the integrity of the Clinic's management). In this connection, Victoria Castro Muñoz, Secretary General of the Workers' Union, asked the Lima Prefecture to conduct a thorough investigation into the acts of which they were wrongly accused. In a document dated 23 November 1993 the chief of the Social Affairs Police Division, Colonel Mario Segura Retamozo, concluded that ""there is not sufficient evidence or proof that the workers dismissed from the San Antonio Vitarte S.A. Clinic were responsible for the printing and/or distribution of the leaflets referred to in the complaint; it would appear that the representatives of the Clinic intended to cause the workers prejudice, both financially and in their work, and the latter are therefore advised to assert their rights before the competent authority".
2. 309. The complainant adds that at the same time Victoria Castro Muñoz submitted to the Labour Judge a request for her reinstatement in her job, indicating that it was the second time that she had been dismissed without due cause by the same institution. On 3 February 1994 the Labour Court informed her that there was no proof against her.

B. The Government's reply

1. 310. In its communication of 10 October 1994 the Government states that, following Victoria Castro Muñoz' complaint in 1990 that she had been dismissed without due cause, the competent judge ordered her to be reinstated in her post. She was accordingly reinstated on 16 November 1992, after having been paid the remuneration due to her. Subsequently, on 19 October 1993 Victoria Castro Muñoz again lodged a complaint against the San Antonio Vitarte S.A. Clinic for having again dismissed her without due cause. On 24 March 1993 a ruling was handed down that the complaint was justified and ordering her reinstatement. However the institution appealed against the decision, whose effect was suspended pending its examination by the Second Specialized Labour Court on 6 May 1994, which has not yet handed down its ruling.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 311. The Committee observes that the allegations in this case refer to acts of anti-union discrimination against leaders of the Workers' Union of the San Antonio Vitarte S.A. Clinic.
2. 312. The Committee observes that, according to the administrative inquiry conducted by the Social Affairs Police, there is no proof against the persons dismissed. Regarding the Secretary General, Victoria Castro Muñoz, the Committee points out that she has been dismissed by the same enterprise for the second time, and that in both cases the judicial authority of first instance ordered her reinstatement.
3. 313. The Committee draws the attention of the Government to the fact that "one of the fundamental principles of freedom of association is that workers should enjoy adequate protection against all acts of anti-union discrimination in respect of their employment - such as dismissal, demotion, transfer or other prejudicial measures - and that this protection is particularly desirable in the case of trade union officials because, in order to be able to perform their trade union duties in full independence, they should have a guarantee that they will not be prejudiced on account of the mandate which they hold from their trade union" (see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, 3rd edition, 1985, para 556).
4. 314. In these circumstances the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to enable the trade union leaders who were dismissed because of their legitimate trade union activities to secure reinstatement in their jobs and to keep it informed on the subject and on the outcome of the enterprise's appeal against the court order to reinstate Victoria Castro Muñoz.