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Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Seychelles (RATIFICATION: 1978)

Article 1(d). Sanctions for participation in strikes. In its previous comments, the Committee requested that the Government take the necessary measures to amend sections 52(4) and 56(1) of the Industrial Relations Act 1991 (IRA) to ensure that no sentences of imprisonment involving compulsory labour can be imposed for the peaceful participation in strikes. Section 56(1) of the IRA provides that participation in an unlawful strike or lockout shall be punished with a fine and imprisonment for a term of six months (involving an obligation to perform labour, in accordance with section 28(1) of the Prison Act 1991). Section 52(4) of the IRA provides that the competent Minister is allowed to declare a strike to be unlawful if he or she is of the opinion that its continuance would endanger, among other things, the “public order or the national economy”. In this respect, the Committee noted the Government’s indication that, in view of the Committee’s comments, it had been proposed to the national tripartite constituents in February and July 2016, as part of the ongoing review of the IRA, for offences related to strikes to be liable to a fine, and not imprisonment. It also noted that section 56(1) of the IRA had not been applied in practice.

The Committee notes the Government’s reference, in its report, to proposals for other amendments to the IRA in February 2016, namely to restrict the situations where a strike can be declared unlawful by the minister under section 52(4) of the IRA to cases of acute national crisis. The Committee notes, however, that the Government has not provided any new information on progress made after 2016 with the amendment of section 56(1) of the IRA aimed at substituting sanctions of imprisonment with fines for offences relating to the participation in strikes. It further notes the Government’s indications that there have been no court decisions handed down relating to sections 52(4) and 56 of the IRA. The Committee therefore reiterates its previous indications that, under the current legislation, a strike could be declared unlawful, even if conducted peacefully, and that a sanction of imprisonment involving compulsory labour could be imposed on a person peacefully participating in such a strike. The Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend or repeal sections 52(4) and 56(1) of the IRA, so as to ensure that no sanction of imprisonment involving compulsory labour could be imposed as a punishment for peaceful participation in strikes, for instance by limiting such sanctions to fines. In this regard, the Committee also refers to its comments on the application of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87).