Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2009, publiée 99ème session CIT (2010)

Article 1(d). Sanctions for participation in strikes. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the Employment Relations Act, 2008, has repealed the Industrial Relations Act, 1973, which contained provisions which punished the participation in strikes that violated compulsory arbitration procedures with sentences of imprisonment involving compulsory prison labour.

Article 1(c) and (d) of the Convention. Disciplinary measures applicable to seafarers. In its earlier comments, the Committee referred to provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act of 1986, under which certain breaches of discipline by seafarers (such as desertion, neglect or refusal to join the ship, absence without leave, neglect of duty) were punishable by imprisonment (involving compulsory prison labour), and seafarers could be forcibly conveyed on board ship for the purpose of proceeding to sea. Referring to paragraph 180 of its 2007 General Survey on the eradication of forced labour, the Committee recalled that, in order to be compatible with the Convention, provisions imposing penalties of imprisonment on seafarers for breaches of labour discipline should be restricted to actions that endanger the safety of the ship or the life or health of persons on board.

The Committee notes the adoption of the Merchant Shipping Act, No. 26 of 2007, which has repealed the Merchant Shipping Act of 1986. The Committee notes that the Act no longer contains a separate provision on offenses by seafarers, nor does it contain any provision making explicit reference to such breaches of discipline by seafarers as desertion, neglect or refusal to join the ship, or absence without leave. It notes, however, that under section 217(16)(n), the Act continues to treat disobedience as a criminal offence, punishable by imprisonment (involving the imposition of compulsory labour), in penalizing a seafarer who refuses to obey the master’s order or neglects his duty.

The Committee hopes that the Government will take measures to further amend the Merchant Shipping Act, 2007, e.g., by limiting the scope of section 217(16)(n) to situations where the safety of the ship or the life or health of persons is endangered, so as to bring its provisions into conformity with the Convention, and that in its next report it will provide information about the progress made in this regard.