Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 307, June 1997

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

1. 20. The Committee examined this case at its March 1996 meeting (See 302nd Report, paras. 535 to 554). The Committee had requested the Government to keep it informed of developments on the situation of the trade unionists of the General Tax Directorate (DGC) arrested after a dispute with the Director-General of this public service, and specifically to indicate whether legal proceedings had been brought against them and what had been the outcome. The Committee had also requested the Government to submit its observations as soon as possible on the refusal of the DGC to undertake negotiations with the staff.
2. 21. In a communication dated 5 March 1997, the Government explains that the staff of the DGC have the trade union status of public officials and that, on account of the prevailing conditions, trade union elections in the public service have not yet been organized. The Government assures that this situation will be resolved in the near future but that in the present context, it raises the problem of the representation of staff in most of the public sector services. According to the Government, the temporary trade union committee, which had been set up at the DGC, had not been established in accordance with the spirit of trade union pluralism which prevails in the country. Consequently, the responsible authority, i.e. the Ministry of Finance, had not recognized the existence of the said committee and requested the Director-General of the DGC to make inquiries with the Ministry of Public Service about the procedures his organization should take to have a duly elected trade union delegation. Thereupon, the members of the temporary trade union committee called upon the workers in the DGC to take collective strike action without complying with the procedure. A strike was therefore held on 17 April 1995, which paralysed the essential service of the DGC and disrupted public law and order. Consequently, two members of the staff of DGC, responsible for the occurrences, were sentenced on 7 August 1995 by the Court of First Instance of Gombe in Kinshasa to two months' imprisonment. After having served their sentences, those concerned started working again at the DGC. The Government gives its assurance that, to avoid such violations recurring in the future, experts from the Ministry of Labour will organize study days with the services concerned on the principles of freedom of association.
3. 22. The Committee notes this information. Considering that no one should be deprived of their freedom or be subject to penal sanctions for the mere fact of organizing or participating in a peaceful strike (see para. 604 of the Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, 4th edition, 1996), the Committee regrets that the trade unionists instigating the strike were sentenced. Furthermore, expressing the hope that trade union elections will be held without delay, the Committee firmly hopes that collective bargaining with the representative trade union organizations will resume in the near future in the public tax service with a view to settle the employment conditions of these public employees. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of the negotiations in this sector.