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Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Papua New Guinea (RATIFICATION: 2000)

The Committee notes the observations of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), received on 1 September 2016, which are of a general nature.

The Committee regrets that the Government’s report has not been received.

The Committee notes that it had previously observed the Government’s commitment to ensuring compliance of the Industrial Relations Bill, 2011, with the Convention and expressed hope that the Bill would take into account all of its past comments on the different versions of the Bill, including with respect to the need to repeal or amend several sections of the Industrial Organizations Act. In this regard, the Committee observes from the Government’s report submitted under the Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), that the Industrial Relations Bill, 2011 had been further revised and that the new Industrial Relations Bill, 2014, is undergoing a vetting process at the Government Executive Committee and the Central Agency and Consultative Council to harmonize it with other relevant legislation. The Bill is to be presented to Cabinet by November 2016 or early 2017 and consultations on the matter should be held in the national Tripartite Consultative Council. The Committee notes, however, that the text of the new Bill was not received. In this respect, the Committee expects that the Industrial Relations Bill, 2014, will take into account all of its comments provided in the past on the different versions of the Bill, including with respect to the need to repeal or amend the following sections of the Industrial Organizations Act (sections 35(2)(b) (concerning qualifications for trade union membership); 22(1)g (concerning refusal of registration to an industrial organization); 55 (concerning cancellation of an industrial organization’s registration); 39(1)(b) and (d) (concerning qualifications for serving as an officer of an industrial organization); 39(4) (concerning the removal of trade union officers); and 5(1), 40, 58 and 60(1)(b) (all granting excessive powers to the registrar to investigate union accounts and demand information)). Encouraging the Government to avail itself of the technical assistance of the Office so as to ensure that the final version of the Bill before the Parliament is in full conformity with the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to provide any information regarding this legislative development and the full text of the Industrial Relations Bill, 2014.

The Committee hopes that the next report will contain full information on the pending matters raised in its present and previous comments.