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Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Kiribati (RATIFICATION: 2000)

The Committee notes the Government’s first report.

Application of the Convention. The Committee notes that section 3 of the Industrial Relations Code Act 1998 excludes prison officers from the application of the provision concerning collective labour disputes. The Committee reminds the Government that prison officers should enjoy the rights and guarantees enshrined in the Convention.

Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee notes that the protection against acts of anti-union discrimination exists only at the time of hiring, and that there is no protection provided for anti-union discrimination for membership and activities. Therefore, the Committee requests the Government to take measures to amend the legislation so as to ensure adequate protection against such acts of anti-union discrimination.

Article 2. The Committee notes that, in the national legislation, no specific legal provisions deal with the issue of mutual interference between employers’ and workers’ organizations. Consequently, the Committee requests the Government to take measures to amend the legislation in order to ensure adequate protection against acts of interference in accordance with Article 2 of the Convention.

Article 3. The Committee requests the Government to take measures so that the legislation includes express provisions for appeals and establishes sufficiently dissuasive sanctions against: (1) acts of anti-union discrimination for membership or participation in activities of a trade union; and (2) acts of interference by employers against workers and workers’ organizations, through rapid procedures and dissuasive sanctions.

Article 4. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, there is no clear legislative recognition of the right of trade unions and employers to engage in collective bargaining, and no special machinery to promote the right to freely bargain collectively. According to the Government, there are no collective agreements in existence for the time being. The Committee therefore requests the Government to adopt specific provisions in order to guarantee the right of collective bargaining (recognition of trade unions; rights of federations and confederations; collective bargaining procedures; settlement of disputes).

Moreover, the Committee notes that sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14 and 19 of the Industrial Relations Code allow referral of any trade dispute to compulsory arbitration at the request of one party or by decision of the authorities. The Committee recalls that compulsory arbitration to put an end to a trade dispute is only acceptable if it is at the request of both parties involved in a dispute, or in the case of disputes in the public service involving public servants exercising authority in the name of the State, or in essential services in the strict sense of the term, namely those services whose interruption would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. The Committee requests the Government to amend the legislation so as to authorize compulsory arbitration only in the abovementioned cases.

The Committee notes that the Government is receiving ILO technical assistance and refers to a possible revision of the legislation. The Committee hopes that this assistance will produce results in the near future.