Interim Report - Report No 197, November 1979

1. 457. The complaints are contained in a communication from the National Confederation of Labour (CNT) dated 6 October 1978 and two communications from the Catalan Workers' Solidarity (SOC), dated 8 September and 19 October 1978. The Government sent its observations in a communication dated 5 October 1979.
2. 458. Spain has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 459. In its complaint of 6 October 1978 CNT presents an accusation by the strike Committee of the service stations workers of the Province of Barcelona, which alleges that there have been serious violations of the right of representative unions of workers to conclude collective agreements.
2. 460. The complainants state that the labour relations between service station workers and employers in the Province had for eight years previously been governed by a provincial collective agreement, since it was the desire of the workers to seek a framework for negotiations which simultaneously maintained the unity of the branch, ensured the protection of the specific socio-economic conditions in the Province and enabled the rank and file to exercise direct control over their representatives. A strike for the whole sector took place in October 1977 over the interpretation of the last provincial agreement (of 1977) and ended with the signing of an addendum to the agreement in which the employers' side recognised the basic claims of the workers in the presence of the official authority.
3. 461. The complainants add that, with the agreement of all the workers, which had been expressed in a series of assemblies, a statement of claims (the text of which is supplied was drawn up in March 1978, requesting an agreement at provincial level. An absolute majority of the delegates elected directly by the workers of the various service stations and members of the different trade union centres participated in drafting this statement. This mixed composition was reflected in that of the bargaining Committee, which was composed of nine members of the CNT as the majority union, one independent member, one member of the Workers' Commissions and one member of the General Union of Workers (UGT). In July, according to CNT, the two last-mentioned unions, overriding the agreement reached by the vast majority of workers in the Province and by the representatives of the bargaining Committee, decided to support the inter-provincial service station agreement.
4. 462. CNT also attaches to its complaint a copy of a communication sent by it on 29 March 1978 to the Collective Agreements Office in Barcelona, denouncing the collective agreement in force; a copy of another communication, dated 22 June 1978, by which CNT transmitted to the Provincial Labour Delegation the list of the members of the bargaining Committee; and a copy of a third communication, dated 23 August 1978, from the spokesman for the bargaining Committee to the Provincial Labour Delegation. The last-mentioned communication contains notification of the intention to strike, invokes the provisions of the Legislative Decree of 4 March 1977 and refers to the wish of the vast majority of the workers in the sector to continue under an agreement for the Province of Barcelona. The communication also claims that the support of the national agreement by certain trade union federations is arbitrary and illegal, since the genuine representatives of the workers are the members of the Committee previously elected.
5. 463. CNT points out in its complaint that, although the Minister of Labour was aware of the request for a provincial agreement made by the service station workers and of the violations of the law committed by the other trade union federations as regards the supporting of the inter-union agreement by the Province, he urged the signing of an inter-provincial agreement. The complainant adds that, within a period of not more than one month of receipt of the denunciation presented by the Committee set up to negotiate the provincial agreement, the Ministry published its endorsement of the inter-provincial agreement which was to take effect in the Province of Barcelona, thus violating the right to freedom of bargaining. According to CNT there have been delays of six to nine months in the endorsement of some inter-provincial agreements.
6. 464. Lastly, the complainants state that, faced with the repeated refusal of the employers to sign a provincial agreement, the workers gave statutory notification of their intention to strike as mentioned above. Once the strike had begun, the authorities, the employers and other trade union federations violated the right to strike by armed occupation of a large number of service stations, replacing the strikers, arresting members of the information Committees, deterring the strike pickets by force of arms and mounting a widespread campaign of intimidation against the workers.
7. 465. The Catalan Workers' Solidarity (SOC), in its communication of 8 September 1978, refers to the above-mentioned dispute and requests that the Government should be urged to abandon a course of action which SOC considers to be contrary to the interests of the workers. According to this complainant organisation, there is nothing in the present legislation to prevent the negotiation of a provincial agreement, since precedents for this already exist and it was on the basis of these that the workers took strike action.
8. 466. According to SOC the authorities posted policemen armed with sub-machine guns at all petrol stations, even at those where the workers were not on strike, and arrested petrol station workers and trade union militants merely because they had been distributing information sheets or posting up strike notices. In its communication of 19 October 1978 SOC stated that the arrested persons had already been released, but that the Government was continuing its coercion by keeping the armed police at the petrol stations.
9. 467. In its observations of 5 October 1979 on the allegations of CNT regarding the measures taken with respect to the strike, the Government states that the complaint is couched in vague and general terms. In its opinion the fact that CNT refers not only to the official authorities but also indiscriminately to the employers' organisation and the trade union federations demonstrates the inconsistency of the complaint.
10. 468. According to the Government the supply of petrol is a public service which directly affects essential activities and cannot be interrupted. Such considerations apart, the action of the forces of order was designed solely to protect the workers who were exercising their legitimate freedom to refrain from striking, and the employers and their families. The Government states that the measures taken were of a precautionary and protective nature to avoid provocation and to prevent harm to persons and property (Molotov cocktails, arson, destruction of petrol pumps, personal assaults - including attacks on the residences of workers and employers - serious threats to their physical integrity, etc.).
11. 469. The complaint itself, says the Government, clearly recognises that there were workers who did not take part in the strike and refers to the information Committees which visited them. These groups used coercion, intimidation and physical violence. The Government considers that, in the light of the foregoing, the reasons for the intervention of the forces of order in the dispute are abundantly clear. The Government further invokes the principle, supported by the Committee on Freedom of Association, that strike pickets are under the obligation to respect public order.
12. 470. The Committee has before it allegations relating on the one hand to the lack of recognition of the collective bargaining rights of CNT, which considers that it is the most representative federation in the service station sector in the Province of Barcelona, and on the other hand to the steps taken by the authorities during the strike called by the same organisation in order to obtain recognition of the rights in question.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 471. The Committee observes in the first place that CNT makes a number of allegations against two other trade union organisations, on the grounds that the latter signed an inter-provincial collective agreement which in the opinion of CNT the employers and the authorities used as a pretext to refuse to bargain at provincial level with a bargaining Committee appointed by the workers and consisting of a majority of CNT representatives. The Committee has in previous cases drawn attention to the desirability of taking appropriate measures to ensure the free exercise of the right to organise of workers and employers even in their relations with other organisations or third parties, Nevertheless, the purpose of the Committee has been to consider whether or not, in each particular instance, the Government has ensured the free exercise of trade union rights within the country concerned. In the present case the complainant organisation has presented no proof that the other trade union organisations which it mentions have violated freedom of association in any way, either as regards the strike or as regards collective bargaining. On the latter point the Committee considers that the exercise by these organisations of their own right to bargain and secure the endorsement of a national agreement if they, can give evidence of the necessary representative ness at this level must be distinguished from any right enjoyed by another representative organisation of workers in a given occupation, region or locality to participate in collective bargaining within their area of competence.
2. 472. Accordingly, before continuing its examination of this aspect of the case, the Committee would like to receive the Government's observations regarding the allegations that the authorities favoured the conclusion of an inter-provincial agreement which, according to the complainants, obstructed or prevented the negotiation of a provincial agreement to replace the one previously in force.
3. 473. As regards the allegations relating to the measures taken by the authorities in the course of the strike, the Committee has in earlier cases rejected allegations relating to the intervention of the security forces when such intervention has been limited to maintaining the peace without involving restrictions on the legitimate exercise of the right to strike; at the same time the Committee has expressed the view that the use of the police for strike-breaking would constitute a violation of trade union rights. The Committee has elsewhere considered that the use of the armed services or other services to perform duties which have been suspended as the result of a labour dispute can - if the strike is lawful - be justified only by the need to ensure the working of services or industries whose suspension would lead to an acute crisis. Lastly, it has considered as legitimate legal provisions prohibiting pickets from disturbing public order and threatening workers who continue to work.
4. 474. In the present case the complainants have alleged that the authorities occupied many service stations manu militari, replacing the workers who were on strike, arresting information Committees, deterring strike pickets by force of arms and carrying on a campaign of intimidation. To these allegations of the complainants, which do not contain precise details (for instance the identity or trade union office of those arrested), the Government replies, also in fairly general terms, that the action of the forces of order was designed solely to protect the workers who did not wish to strike and to prevent damage to property, stating that personal assaults had occurred and serious threats had been made against workers and employers. Given the contradiction between the allegations of the complainants and the observations of the Government and the lack of detailed information regarding the facts, and the fact that according to one of the complainant organisations the arrested trade unionists were released, the Committee considers that this aspect of the case does not call for further examination.