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Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Burundi (RATIFICATION: 1993)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government merely indicates in its report that the General Civil Service Regulations, which constitute a basic law designed to cover matters arising in the Committee’s comments, are still being revised. The Committee further notes that the observations made by COSYBU concern issues dealt with by the Committee as well as allegations relating to: (i) the suspension of trade union registration in the informal sector; and (ii) the unilateral imposition of minimum services in the event of a strike. It notes that the Government, in its response, indicates that the registration of informal sector unions will be resumed after the promulgation of its revised Labour Code. Recalling that workers in the informal economy have the right, without prior authorization, to form organizations of their own choosing, the Committee trusts that the revised Labour Code will be promulgated in the near future in order to give full effect to Article 2 of the Convention and requests the Government to provide information on any developments in this regard. It also requests the Government to respond to COSYBU's allegation concerning the unilateral imposition of minimum services in the event of a strike.

The Committee recalls that its previous comments referred to the need to amend Act No. 1/015 of 29 November 2002 on the exercise of the right to organize and the right to strike in the public service, and covered the following points:

Article 2 of the Convention. Minimum number of members required to establish a trade union. The requirement of a minimum of 50 members set out in section 8 of the Act is excessive.

Article 3. Minimum length of service for eligibility for trade union office. Section 10 of the Act requires a minimum length of service of three years in the occupation to be a trade union officer (the issue of a minimum service requirement for eligibility should be left to the discretion of organizations and their members).

Leadership dispute in a union. Section 7 of the Act provides that, in the event of a leadership dispute in a union, the Minister of the Public Service may refer the matter to the Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court for settlement (the settlement of any internal dispute in a union should be left to the discretion of the union members themselves, without any intervention by the public authorities).

Lawfulness of a strike. Under section 30 of the Act, for a strike by public servants to be lawful, prior notification must be given specifying the length of the strike (this requirement limits the right of workers’ organizations to organize their administration and activities and to formulate their programmes in full freedom). Under section 31 of the Act, such a strike must be called by a group of public servants, whether or not they are unionized, after approval by an absolute majority of the personnel in the public service concerned (if a country deems it appropriate to require a vote by workers before a strike can be held, the requirement should ensure that account is taken only of the votes cast, and that the required quorum and majority are fixed at a reasonable level).

Sympathy strikes. Section 39 of the Act provides that sympathy strikes are prohibited (in the Committee’s view, a general prohibition of sympathy strikes by public servants who do not exercise authority in the name of the State could lead to abuse).

Settlement of collective disputes. The procedure for the settlement of collective disputes established by sections 32–35 of the Act appears to result in a system of compulsory arbitration, with section 35 providing for the possibility for a party to unilaterally refer a dispute to the Administrative Court (recourse to compulsory arbitration to end a collective labour dispute or strike is only acceptable in certain circumstances, namely: (i) where agreed upon by both parties to the dispute; or (ii) where a strike may be restricted or prohibited, namely: (a) in disputes involving public servants exercising authority in the name of the State; (b) in disputes occurring in essential services in the strict sense of the term; or (c) in the event of an acute national crisis.

Article 5. The effect of section 21 of the Act in practice is that first-level organizations can only join central organizations or federations of unions of public servants, and not organizations representing other workers (such organizations should nevertheless be able to affiliate with federations and confederations of their own choosing in full freedom, including those which also group together organizations from the private sector).

The Committee notes that, in its response to the above-mentioned observations, the Government indicates that it is still studying ways and means of considering the revision of Law No. 1/015. The Committee once again recalls that the above matters have been the subject of its comments for many years, despite the fact that the Government has given an undertaking to amend Act No. 1/015 so as to bring it into conformity with the Convention. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to amend the above-mentioned Act in the very near future and requests the Government to report on all progress made in this respect. It reminds the Government that it may avail itself of the technical assistance of the Office, should it so wish.