Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 358, November 2010

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

1. 94. The Committee examined the substance of this case at its November 2009 meeting. It concerns allegations of interference by the authorities in the activities of a trade union, arrest and detention of trade unionists, seizure of the union’s correspondence and computer equipment and a public smear campaign against the union. On that occasion, the Committee formulated the following recommendations:
   • (a) The Committee requests the Government to carry out an independent inquiry into the conditions of the arrest and detention of the SYNCASS officials Mr Mambu, Mr Ilwa and Mr Sukami and, if it is shown that their arrest and detention did not adhere to the principles recalled here with regard to the arrest and detention of trade unionists, to take appropriate measures to ensure that such situations cannot occur again in the future.
   • (b) The Committee requests the Government to indicate the nature and the status of the current legal or administrative proceedings against the SYNCASS BDD official accused of misappropriation of funds, and to inform it of any decisions handed down by the bodies concerned and any follow-up action.
   • (c) The Committee requests the Government to provide its observations on the allegations that the SYNCASS BDD officials have been unable to carry out their official duties and have been banned from leaving Bandundu.
   • (d) The Committee requests the Government to hold an independent inquiry into the allegations that SYNCASS correspondence was intercepted by force on the orders of the provincial medical inspector and, if they are shown to be true, to take the necessary measures to punish those responsible in order to prevent any recurrence of such acts in future.
   • (e) The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the portable computer owned by the SYNCASS BDD committee has been returned to it and, if not, to take the necessary measures, in the absence of a judicial order to the contrary, to ensure that it is returned to the union without delay, and to ensure strict adherence in future to the principles recalled here with regard to searches of union assets and premises.
   • (f) The Committee requests the Government to supply a copy of the Protocol of Agreement of 14 November 2007, in which it is claimed to give SYNCASS sole responsibility for managing payments of risk insurance premiums, and to provide an explanation regarding the change in practice of at-source deduction (check-off) of union membership dues.
2. 95. The complainant organization, the National Union of Medical Practitioners, Health Service Management and Personnel (SYNCASS), has presented additional information in a communication dated 17 February 2010. Firstly, the complainant organization states that the situation has not changed with regard to the different aspects of the dispute between itself and the authorities which is the subject of the case. Secondly, SYNCASS highlights what it considers to be two key aspects of the case, namely anti-union and occupational discrimination in the health services in the country and interference by the authorities in regard to the deduction of union dues.
3. 96. As regards discrimination in the health services, SYNCASS denounces the fact that the National Doctors’ Union (SYNAMED) has been given responsibility for handling the payment of risk insurance premiums for the medical profession throughout the country, that SYNAMED has no trouble collecting its membership dues and that its demands are processed without delay, which is not the case for SYNCASS and other unions. Moreover, health-care staff other than doctors remain excluded from strategic decisions on the health care system, and people working in those occupations only have a very limited say in determining national health-care policies.
4. 97. As regards interference by the Ministry of Health and provincial authorities in the distribution of membership dues among unions, SYNCASS would like the Government’s attention to be drawn to the fact that it should not be involved in the distribution of union dues or decide which unions should benefit from such dues. The complainant organization points out that in the public sector, for the last three years union dues have been deducted at source for all employees and that the dues are distributed according to a share system agreed on among the unions.
5. 98. As regards the legal and administrative proceedings referred to by the Committee, SYNCASS points out that none of the bodies with which proceedings have been filed, either by the union or by the authorities, have handed down a decision or court order in the matter. The complainant organization concludes from this that the accusations levelled against the provincial SYNCASS officials are unfounded.
6. 99. Lastly, as regards the Committee’s recommendations concerning the Protocol of Agreement of 14 November 2007 (recommendation (f)), SYNCASS points out that the Protocol does not deal with the health sector and hence does not assign SYNCASS sole responsibility for managing risk insurance premiums. The premiums are managed on the basis of a consensual practice implemented by SYNCASS since 2007 in the absence of relevant legislation and the Government’s intention to avoid massive misappropriation of funds. There is thus no written agreement on that subject.
7. 100. The Committee notes the information provided by the complainant organization. It notes with regret that the Government has not sent the observations and information requested in its previous recommendations. It urges the Government to do so without delay in the light of the information provided by the complainant organization in its last communication.
8. 101. The Committee recalls in particular that in this case, SYNCASS BDD officials Mr Mambu, Mr Ilwa and Mr Sukami were arrested, detained and subjected to administrative penalties starting in July 2007. In view of the time which has elapsed, the Committee expects the Government to provide information without delay on the status of the current legal or administrative proceedings against these union officials and the outcome of the inquiry requested on the circumstances of their arrest and detention (recommendations (a) and (b)). The Committee considers that an excessive delay in processing cases of anti-union discrimination, and in particular a lengthy delay in concluding the proceedings in that regard, constitute a denial of justice and therefore a denial of the trade union rights of the persons concerned.
9. 102. Lastly, the Committee urges the Government to send its observations in reply to the last communication from SYNCASS, in particular concerning anti-union and occupational discrimination in the health sector and interference by the authorities in the choice of system for distributing union dues.