Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1990, published 77th ILC session (1990)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Philippines (Ratification: 1953)

1. The Committee notes the amendments made to Book V of the Labor Code by Act No. 6715 and its Regulations. It notes in particular that section 3(f) of Rule II, Book V, provides that no person who is not an employee or worker of the company or establishment can be elected or appointed as an officer of a trade union.

The Committee wishes to draw the Government's attention to paragraph 158 of its 1983 General Survey on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining and in particular to the fact that, by virtue of the principle set out in Article 3 of the Convention, workers have the right to elect their representatives in full freedom without any intervention by the public authorities which would restrict the exercise of this right. In the Committee's opinion, provisions such as the one referred to above may prevent qualified persons, such as pensioners or full-time union officers, from carrying out union duties. Trade union organisations should be left to themselves to determine this matter through their own rules.

The Committee therefore requests the Government to envisage making its legislation more flexible by lifting the requirements that are set out regarding occupation for a reasonable proportion of trade union officers and to supply information on the measures that it intends to take to conform to these provisions of the Convention.

2. The Committee notes that by virtue of section 238 of the Labor Code the certificate of registration of a trade union can be cancelled for the reasons set out in section 239.

It also notes that, under section 9 of Rule II, Book V, as amended, an appeal against such a decision, which has been taken after hearing the party concerned, can only be made to the Bureau or Secretary of Labor and Employment.

The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the ordinary courts may consider an appeal against a decision taken by the administrative authorities and whether appeals to the courts suspend a decision to cancel registration.