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Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Rwanda (RATIFICATION: 1988)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Adequate protection against anti-union discrimination and interference. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted with regret that the new Labour Code (Law No. 66/2018 of 30 August 2018) did not contain, beyond the dismissal of trade union representatives, specific provisions prohibiting and punishing acts of anti-union discrimination and interference and was therefore less protective than the repealed legislation. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that law No. 68/2018 of August 2018 determining offences and penalties in general provides, in its article 284, that any person vested with public authority or responsible for a public service mission who orders or personally performs an act which violates an individual freedom, except when provided for by the law, commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for three to five years. The Committee observes that, in addition to being very generic with respect to the type of offences covered, the scope of application of this provision is limited with respect to the authors of the offences as it does not apply to most private employers. In these circumstances, the Committee recalls, that in order to ensure full compliance with the Convention,the legislation must also target private employers and provide explicit protection against all acts of anti-union discrimination and interference. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the legislation in force targets private employers and provides adequate and explicit protection against all acts of anti-union discrimination and interference, including the imposition of effective and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on any progress made in this regard.

Article 4. Promotion of collective bargaining. The Committee takes due note of Ministerial Order No. 001/19.20 of March 2020 relating to Labour Inspection provided by the Government. The Committee notes that if a labour inspector fails to settle a collective labour dispute, the inspector refers the dispute to the Minister of labour who then submits it to the National Labour Council (article 15), which issues special regulations determining the modalities for the establishment of the arbitration committee and its functioning (article 17). The National Labour Council, after receiving the collective labour dispute from the Minister in charge of Labour, sets up an arbitration committee to settle the collective labour dispute (article 18). While recalling that recourse to compulsory arbitration was removed by the new labour Code, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the special regulations determining the modalities for the establishment of the arbitration board and its functioning,in order to ensure that the rules applicable to the settlement of collective disputes, through the National Labour Council, are fully in line with the principle of free and voluntary collective bargaining established by the Convention.

Referring to its previous comments under the Collective Bargaining Convention, 1981 (No. 154), the Committee recalls that, according to article 3 of Law No. 66/2018 of August 2018 regulating Labour, a “collective agreement” means a written agreement relating to employment conditions or any other mutual interests between employees’ organizations or employees’ representatives where there are no such employees’ organizations on the one hand, and one or more employers or employers’ organizations, on the other hand. In view of the Committee, such a definition could be too restrictive and exclude certain categories of workers. The Committee notes the Government’ statement that, according to article 32 of the Constitution of Rwanda, trade unions and employers’ associations have the right to engage in collective bargaining and may enter into general or specific agreements regulating their working relations. The Constitution recognizes these rights to all categories of trade unions and employer’s associations and does not make any distinction based on the status of employees. While taking note of this information, the Committee wishes to recall that the recognition of the right to collective bargaining is wide-ranging in scope and should for instance include the self-employed. The Committee further notes that, according to article 2 of Law No. 66/2018, collective bargaining applies to self-employed workers, but only with regard to occupational health and safety. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on how the right to collective bargaining is recognized to all categories of workers, irrespective of their contractual status and irrespective of the subject covered by collective bargaining.

With respect to the extension procedure of collective agreements applicable to at least two thirds (2/3) of the number of employees or employers representing the category of profession (according to article 95 of the new Labour Code), the Committee notes the Government’s indication that its applicability depends on the organizations themselves and that, so far, some collective agreements are in place, but not yet extended. The Committee requests the Government to keep providing information on the application in practice of article 95 of the new Labour Code.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.