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Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body
Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body- 43. The Committee last examined this case at its June 2023 session [see
403rd Report, paras 598–653]. On that occasion, the Committee requested the Government
to: (a) ensure a reasonable balance between the obligation of political neutrality of
public teachers in the educational field established by the Constitution of Uruguay and
the right of teacher organizations to express their opinions on economic and social
policy issues that may affect its members and to be able to disseminate them in the
workplace bearing in mind the need not to impair the education of the children, and to
take any necessary actions in this regard. The Committee also requested the Government
to keep it informed of the outcome of the invalidation proceedings brought in the Court
for Administrative Disputes (TCA) relating to banners on the schools’ facades, and also
of the status of the other complaint filed by National Federation of Secondary School
Teachers (FENAPES) with the National Human Rights Institution (INDDHH); (b) to keep it
informed, together with the complainants, of the status of the criminal complaint filed
against the teacher and union leader Mr Slamovitz and other FENAPES leaders, and to
provide information on the action taken by the National Public Education Administration
(ANEP), the Transparency and Public Ethics Board, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, to
which the parliamentary commission referred the activities in question; and (c) while
requesting the Government to keep it informed of any decision issued by the TCA and of
any developments in the above-mentioned tripartite negotiations mentioned by the
Government in relation to the Association of Secondary Education Non-Teaching Staff
(ATES), the Committee expressed the firm hope that in future, in line with Uruguay’s
tradition of social dialogue and its recognized commitment to collective bargaining, it
is precisely through dialogue and bipartite collective bargaining that issues relating
to trade union leave taken by secondary education teachers will be addressed and
reviewed, if deemed necessary, in a climate of confidence, respect and good faith.
- 44. The Committee takes note of the additional information sent by
FENAPES in its communications of 18 September and 19 December 2023 in which the
complainant organization alleges the Government’s failure to comply with the Committee’s
recommendations and the persistence of a policy of anti-union repression. The Committee
also takes note of the observations submitted by the Government in its communication of
20 December 2023.
- 45. In relation to the status of the actions undertaken in relation to
alleged restrictions to the freedom of expression of FENAPES, the Government informs
that, due to a matter of a formal nature, the TCA was inhibited from ruling on the
merits of the annulment action presented by the ANEP against the INDDHH resolution that
recommended repealing the most controversial articles of the 2020 resolution by which
the ANEP had demanded that FENAPES remove the posters related to a legislative
referendum from the facade of different high schools. The Committee takes due note of
this information and notes that the parties concerned in the present complaint have not
submitted information on other judicial or administrative proceedings initiated at the
national level in relation to the situation referred to. Noting the absence of
information in this respect, the Committee again requests the Government to keep it
informed of the status of the complaint lodged by FENAPES with the INDDHH, inter alia,
the prohibition of trade union meetings inside the school.
- 46. On the other hand, FENAPES alleges that the Government is
disregarding the Committee’s recommeandation (a) requesting it to take any necessary
actions to ensure a reasonable balance between the political neutrality of public
teachers and the freedom of expression of teachers’ organizations. In this regard,
FENAPES states that: (i) the summary proceedings that culminated in the punishment of
unionized teachers for having taken and then disseminated photographs inside a high
school to express their opposition to a constitutional reform project have not been
re-examined in the light of the aforementioned reasonable balance; and (ii) in 2023, the
Central Board of Directors of the ANEP issued a legal report questioning the Committee’s
request referred to above as well as other aspects of its examination of the case. For
its part, the Government refers that this legal report responded to a request from
FENAPES, rules out any intention on the part of the report or ANEP to breach or
disregard the Committee’s recommendations and points out that, in its view, the
aforementioned reasonable balance is achieved through dialogue and compliance with the
constitutional, legal and regulatory norms inherent to the public function, as well as
the principles governing public education. The Committee takes due note of the elements
submitted by FENAPES and the Government and their divergent positions. Recalling the
tradition of social dialogue that characterizes Uruguay and noting that, according to
the information available on the Government’s website, in 2022 ANEP had concluded
collective agreements with FENAPES and other trade union organizations, the Committee
invites the Government to promote dialogue between FENAPES and ANEP with respect to the
subjects addressed in recommendation (a) as mentioned above. The Committee requests the
Government to keep it informed in this respect.
- 47. With regard to recommendation (b) concerning the actions carried out
following the investigation by a parliamentary committee on the use of trade union leave
in the period 2015–19 by certain members of FENAPES, this organization points out that:
(i) the Parliament filed a criminal complaint for the alleged existence of
irregularities, omissions and unlawfulness in the use of the referred leaves ; and (ii)
based on the conclusions of the investigation, the General Directorate of Secondary
Education (DGES), a decentralized body of ANEP, ordered, through resolution No. 4251 of
2023, to carry out a new investigation into the possible irregular use of the
aforementioned licenses by other FENAPES leaders, which could include Mr Mario Bango and
Mr Raúl May.
- 48. With regard to the status of the criminal complaints under way
concerning the alleged irregular use of trade union leave, FENAPES and the Government
inform that both the above-mentioned complaint by Parliament and the complaint filed by
ANEP against the teacher and leader Mr Marcel Slamovitz, for having submitted allegedly
false documents for the use of trade union leave, are currently being investigated by
the Office of the Public Prosecutor for the 15th shift. The Committee takes due note of
the information provided by FENAPES and the Government and requests them to keep it
informed of the developments and outcome of the two ongoing criminal complaints
concerning the use of trade union leave by certain FENAPES leaders in the period
2015–19, as well as of the new administrative investigation into the possible irregular
use of such leave by other FENAPES members.
- 49. With regard to recommendation (c) concerning the alleged modification
by resolution No. 4141 of 2021 of the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE)
on the conditions for the use of trade union leave by the leaders of the ATES and the
collective bargaining that would address this situation, the Government indicates that:
(i) this resolution has lost its validity due to the passage of time; (ii) there was a
refusal (by administrative silence) of the request submitted by FENAPES to revoke the
aforementioned resolution; (iii) this refusal became final as it was not challenged
before the CCA; (iii) no other claims have arisen with respect to the aforementioned
resolution; and (iv) collective bargaining with the ATES has continued normally. The
Committee takes due note of the information provided by the Government. The Committee
expresses once again the firm hope that, if deemed necessary, the issues relating to
union leave for secondary school teachers can be addressed and reviewed in the future
through dialogue and bipartite collective bargaining.
