Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Bolivia (Plurinational State of) (Ratification: 1990)

Article 1(d) of the Convention. Punishment for having participated in strikes. In its previous comments, the Committee referred to section 234 of the Penal Code, under which advocacy of lockouts, strikes or stoppages declared illegal by the labour authorities is punishable by imprisonment of from one to five years. Sentences of imprisonment involve an obligation to work under sections 48 and 50 of the Penal Code. The Committee requested the Government to provide information on the effect given in practice of these provisions in order to enable it to evaluate their scope and to provide copies of court decisions made under them, with an indication of the number of convictions. The Committee also referred to sections 2, 9 and 10 of Legislative Decree No. 2565 of 6 June 1951 establishing penal sanctions for participation in general strikes and sympathy strikes, and to other restrictions set out in the legislation in relation to strikes, including the requirement for a majority of three-quarters of the workers of the enterprise to call a strike (section 114 of the General Labour Act and section 159 of its Regulations), and the possibility to impose compulsory arbitration by decision of the executive authorities (section 113 of the General Labour Act).

The Committee emphasizes that no worker on strike who has acted peacefully should be subject to criminal sanctions and observes once again that the excessive restrictions imposed on the exercise of the right to strike have an impact on the application of the Convention. This is the case with the requirement of a qualified majority to call a strike and the existence of compulsory arbitration systems when such restrictions result in a declaration that the strike is illegal with the consequent penal sanctions and the imposition of compulsory prison labour.

The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the draft text drawn up on the basis of a tripartite agreement resulting from negotiations between the representatives of the Bolivian Central Workers’ Organization (COB), the Bolivian National Confederation of Private Sector Employers (CEPB) and the Ministry of Labour, who agreed on the amendment of various legal provisions, including sections 2, 9 and 10 of Legislative Decree No. 2565 of 6 June 1951 establishing penal sanctions for sympathy strikes and section 234 of the Penal Code.

The Committee notes that, according to the Government’s indications in its report, during the period 2005–07 there were no cases of the application of section 234 of the Labour Code nor of Legislative Decree No. 2565. It further notes that the Government is taking measures with a view to amending the penal legislation and giving effect to the tripartite agreement that was concluded on the need to amend the provisions referred to above.

The Committee once again expresses the hope that the Government will take the necessary measures to ensure that penalties involving compulsory labour cannot be imposed for participation in strikes by amending or repealing the legislative provisions which establish such penalties and since, according to the Government’s indications, these provisions are not applied in practice, the Committee hopes that the Government will take the necessary measures to bring the legislation into conformity with the Convention and with existing practice, as described by the Government.