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

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The Committee notes the observations of the Trade Union Confederation of Burundi (COSYBU), received on 29 August 2023, concerning matters examined in the present comment.

Revised Labour Code. The Committee notes the adoption of Act No. 1/11 of 24 November 2020 revising the Labour Code (revision of legislative decree No. 1/037 of 7 July 1993).

Article 2 of the Convention. Right of workers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish and join organizations. Public officials. The Committee notes that section 2 of the revised Labour Code excludes from its scope of application State civil servants governed by the General Civil Service Regulations. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that in the absence of regulations concerning the exercise of the right to organize of magistrates, the Minister of Justice was due to set up a committee to revise the Magistrates’ Regulations by incorporating provisions relating to the exercise of the right to organize. Noting the Government’s indication that the reform process remains under way, the Committee once again requests the Government to ensure that the Magistrates’ Regulations are revised in the near future in order to ensure that judges benefit from the guarantees laid down in the Convention, and to provide a copy of the revised regulations once they have been adopted.

Minors. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the provision of section 271 of the Labour Code of 1993, which provided that minors under 18 years of age may not join a trade union without the express authorization of their parents or guardians, has been repealed in context of the revision of the Code.

Article 3. Election of trade union officers. The Committee recalls that it requested the Government to amend section 275(3) of the Labour Code, so that a conviction for an act that does not call into question the integrity of the person concerned does not constitute grounds for exclusion from trade union office. The Committee notes with interest that new section 595(3) of the Labour Code provides that members with responsibility for the administration or management of a trade union must not have been sentenced “to more than six months’ imprisonment without suspension of sentence for acts which, by their nature, call into question the integrity of the person concerned and present a real risk for the performance of trade union duties”.

The Committee also recalls that it recommended deleting the provision under section 275(4) disqualifying candidates who have not worked in “the occupation or trade for at least one year” from trade union office, and allow persons who had previously worked in the occupation to stand for office or lift the requirement to belong to the occupation for a reasonable proportion of trade union officers. The Committee notes in this regard that new section 595(4) of the Code provides that members with responsibility for the administration and management of a trade union “must be working in or have worked in the occupation or trade”.

Right of organizations to organize their activities and to formulate their programmes in full freedom. Procedures for the exercise of the right to strike. In its previous comments, the Committee urged the Government to adopt and provide a copy of the text to be issued under the Labour Code on the modalities for the exercise of the right to strike. In this regard, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the revised Labour Code provides that: (i) an order of the Minister responsible for labour, further to the opinion of the National Labour Committee, shall determine indispensable services and the procedures for the exercise of the right to strike in these services (section 507), and (ii) an order of the Minister responsible for labour, further to the opinion of the National Labour Committee, shall specify the procedures for the application of Chapter III of the Code, The right to strike and lockout (section 514). In respect of the “indispensable” services referred to in section 507, the Committee notes that the definition of these services under section 4 of the revised Labour Code is potentially broader than that which the Committee deems essential services in the strict sense of the term, in that it includes services that must be maintained in order to safeguard “freedom of movement” and “freedom of communication and information”. Recalling the importance of the right to strike for promoting and defending the interests of unionized workers, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary steps to adopt and provide a copy of the regulations implementing the Labour Code in relation to procedures for the exercise of the right to strike. The Committee also requests the Government to take the necessary steps to clarify the definition of indispensable services, so that prohibition of the right to strike is only possible in services “whose interruption would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population” (essential services in the strict sense of the term).

The Committee recalls that it requested the Government to take the necessary steps to: (i) amend section 213 of the Labour Code of 1993, which provides that strikes are lawful when they are called with the approval of a simple majority of the employees of the workplace or enterprise; and (ii) to repeal the legislative decree prohibiting the exercise of the right to strike and the right to demonstrate throughout the country during electoral periods. On the first point, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that under new section 502, a strike is lawful “when it is carried out by a group of workers with the approval of a simple majority of the workforce affected by the dispute”. While observing that the provision no longer refers to the “employees of the workplace or enterprise”, but to “the workforce affected by the dispute”, the Committee wishes to recall that if a country deems it appropriate to require a vote by workers before a strike can be held, it should ensure that account is taken only of the votes cast. With regard to the second point, the Committee notes that the Government still does not provide information on the repeal of the legislative decree concerned. Accordingly, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary steps to revise new section 502 of the Labour Code in order to ensure that the simple majority required to decide whether to call a strike relates to the votes cast, rather than to the workers affected by the dispute, and to repeal the above-mentioned legislative decree.

Internal administration of trade unions. The Committee notes that section 606 of the revised Code provides that “trade unions are required … to provide all information requested by the Minister responsible for labour, insofar as this relates exclusively to trade union activities” and that failure to comply with this requirement may affect the very existence of the organization concerned (section 615 of the Code). In this regard, the Committee wishes to recall: (i) the principle, established by the Convention, that the public authorities are prohibited from interfering with the internal affairs of trade unions and (ii) the importance of ensuring that workers’ and employers’ organizations have the right to organize their activities in full freedom for the purpose of defending the occupational interests of their members. In this regard, the Committee notes that it has had occasion to welcome the removal, in some national laws, of the requirement for trade unions to submit to the labour authority all reports that the latter might request from them (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 113). In view of the above, the Committee requests the Government to take the steps to repeal the requirement under section 606 of the revised Labour Code to provide “all information requested by the Minister responsible for labour” concerning trade union activities, in order to avoid any risk of interference by the public authorities in trade union activities.

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