Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

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

The Committee notes the Government's report and the entry into force of Act No. 6-96 of 6 March 1996 amending and supplementing certain provisions of Act No. 45/75 of 15 March 1975 establishing the Labour Code. It also notes the conclusions of the Committee on Freedom of Association in Cases Nos. 1850 and 1870 approved by the Governing Body in June and November 1996 (304th and 306th Reports of the Committee on Freedom of Association).

The Committee notes with interest that the Labour Code establishes the possibility of trade union pluralism in that occupational unions have the right to organize freely in all enterprises in Congo (section 210-2).

With regard to its previous comments, the Committee notes:

- as regards the need to amend the legislation on the minimum service "indispensable to safeguard the general interest" to be maintained in the public service, which is organized by the employer, wherein refusal to participate is deemed to constitute serious misconduct (section 248-16), in order to limit the minimum service to the operations which are strictly necessary to meet the basic needs of the population and within the framework of a negotiated minimum service, that the Government undertakes to review this provision in consultation with the social partners with a view to modifying it or adopting an implementing text. The Committee asks the Government to keep it informed of any developments in this matter and to provide a copy of the text modifying this provision of the Labour Code;

- as regards the fact that the Labour Code contains no provisions authorizing workers and employers to include in collective agreements a clause on the deduction of trade union dues from the wages of workers with the written consent of the latter, that, according to the Government, this question is on the agenda of the next session of the National Labour Advisory Commission and that, in cooperation with the social partners, a procedure will be adopted which takes account of the requirements of the Convention. The Committee asks the Government to keep it informed of any developments in this respect in its future reports.

Lastly, with regard to Cases Nos. 1850 and 1870, the Committee asks the Government to report on the progress of the draft amendment to the Act on the right to strike in the public service. It trusts that any amendment will be consistent with the principles of freedom of association and that restrictions, or prohibitions, of the exercise of the right to strike will be confined to public servants exercising authority in the name of the State or to essential services in the strict sense of the term, namely services the interruption of which would endanger the life, health or safety of the whole or part of the population, which is not the case of the post and telecommunication services as such.