Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 308, November 1997

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 56. At its meeting in March 1997, the Committee requested the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of the appeals lodged with the Supreme Court by certain trade union officers dismissed by the Iron and Steel Enterprise of Peru; to keep it informed of developments concerning a draft amendment to the Industrial Relations Act which would lift the prohibition denying the right to belong to organizations of their own choosing to workers during their probationary period; to keep it informed of the final decision handed down by the higher court concerning the dismissal of trade union officer Mr. Iván Arias Vildoso; and to establish an independent inquiry into the dismissals of trade union officers and members in the National Railway Enterprise of Peru (ENAFER), and to keep it informed in this regard (see 306th Report, para. 508).
2. 57. In a communication dated 30 July 1997, the Government informs the Committee that (i) of the five former trade union officers of the Iron and Steel Enterprise of Peru who had lodged appeals, two had withdrawn their appeals and received their social benefits. Concerning the three others, the Government will inform the Committee of the decision handed down by the court; (ii) as regards developments concerning the draft amendment to the Industrial Relations Act, it has been analysed and discussed by the Committee on Labour and Social Security of the Congress of the Republic, and the Committee's recommendation has been taken into account by removing the provision requiring that a worker not be undergoing a probationary period in order to be able to join a trade union; (iii) as regards the final decision of the higher court concerning the dismissal of trade union officer Mr. Iván Arias Vildoso, it has not yet been handed down; (iv) as regards the inquiry into the dismissals of trade union officers and members i
   • n the ENAFER enterprise, inspections carried out show that the enterprise was in the process of reducing staff in accordance with Legislative Decree No. 26120, since ENAFER comes within the scope of the privatization process for which provision is made in this legislation.
3. 58. The Committee notes the information communicated by the Government and requests it to keep it informed of the decision handed down by the judiciary branch concerning the remaining three trade union officers dismissed by the Iron and Steel Enterprise of Peru, and of the final decision handed down by the higher court concerning the dismissal of trade union officer Mr. Iván Arias Vildoso. As regards developments concerning the draft amendment to the Industrial Relations Act, the Committee notes with interest that the Committee on Labour and Social Security of the Congress of the Republic has removed from the bill the provision requiring that a worker not be undergoing a probationary period in order to be able to join a trade union, and draws this aspect to the attention of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations. Lastly, as regards the dismissals of trade union officers and members in the ENAFER enterprise, the Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that in future the application of such staff reduction programmes is not used to carry out acts of anti-union discrimination.