CMNT_TITLE

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Guyana (RATIFICATION: 1966)

The Committee notes with deep concern that the Government’s report contains no reply to its previous comments. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments initially made in 2009.

Repetition

In its previous observation, the Committee referred to the recognition of only those unions claiming 40 per cent support of the workers, as set out in the Trade Union Recognition Act. The Committee takes note of the Government’s statement that, at the request of the Trades Union Congress, the Trade Union Recognition Act provided for the recognition of unions that were recognized prior to the Act without having to prove that they had majority support (section 32). All unions benefited from this provision which the Government says is no longer applicable as all certificates applicable under this section have been issued. Given that the representativeness of unions might change, the Committee recalls once again that, if no union covers more than 40 per cent of the workers in the bargaining unit, collective bargaining rights should be granted to all the unions in the unit, at least on behalf of their members (see General Survey of 1994 on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraph 241). The Committee hopes that significant progress respecting this issue will be made in the near future and requests the Government to provide information on the results of the consultative process.

The Committee expects that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.

Collective bargaining in practice. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken, in conformity with Article 4 of the Convention, to promote collective bargaining as well as to provide information on the number of collective agreements concluded and in force in the country, indicating the sectors concerned and the number of workers covered.