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Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Chad (RATIFICATION: 1960)

Article 3 of the Convention. Right of workers’ and employers’ organizations to organize their administration and activities in full freedom. The Committee recalls that its previous comments concerned the following provisions of Act No. 008/PR/007 of 9 May 2007 regulating the exercise of the right to strike in public services:

• -section 11(3) of the Act, which imposes the obligation to declare the “possible” duration of a strike. In this regard, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that in principle a strike comes to an end with the signature of an overall or partial agreement, which makes it impossible to determine its duration. However, the requirement to declare the duration was introduced for go-slows and similar industrial action, which constitute a strategy to weaken the position of the employer. In this regard, the Committee recalls that in all cases trade unions should be able to call strikes of unlimited duration if they so wish.
• -sections 20 and 21 of the Act, under which the Minister concerned has the discretion to determine the minimum services and the number of officials and employees who will ensure that such services are maintained in the event of a strike in the essential services enumerated in section 19. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the list of essential public services in which requisitions may be made in the event of a strike is under revision. The Committee recalls that such a minimum service should meet at least two requirements: (1) it should genuinely and exclusively be a minimum service, limited to the operations that are strictly necessary to meet the basic needs of the population or the minimum requirements of the service, while maintaining the effectiveness of the pressure brought to bear; and (2) as this system restricts one of the essential means of pressure available to workers to defend their economic and social interests, their organizations should be able, if they so wish, to participate in defining such a service, along with employers and the public authorities.

The Committee trusts that the Government will take all the necessary measures to ensure that the above provisions of Act No. 008/PR/007 of 9 May 2007 are implemented in accordance with the principles recalled above, through the amendment of the Act or any other means. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any further developments in this regard.

The Committee also notes that section 22(1) of the Act provides that any refusal by officials or employees to comply with requisition orders issued under sections 20 and 21 makes them liable to the penalties provided for in sections 100 and 101 of Act No. 017/PR/2001 issuing the general public service regulations. The Committee notes that these legislative provisions describe the degrees of disciplinary penalties to be imposed by order of gravity, but without indicating those which correspond to the different degrees of fault. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the penalties applicable, and which have been imposed, under section 22(1) of Act No. 008/PR/2007.