Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1991, published 78th ILC session (1991)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Lebanon (Ratification: 1977)

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the points raised in its previous direct request.

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. The Committee notes that the legislation does not contain any provisions concerning protection against acts of anti-union discrimination and against any acts of interference. It requests the Government to take the measures necessary to guarantee such protection in conformity with Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention.

Article 4. The Committee notes that, to be able to negotiate, the representatives of wage earners must have the membership of at least 60 per cent of the Lebanese workers concerned (Decree 17386/64, section 3) and that a collective agreement must be approved by two-thirds of the general assembly of trade unions parties to the agreement (Decree 17386/64, section 4). The Committee considers that such high percentages restrict the promotion of collective bargaining. It requests the Government to adopt the appropriate measures, particularly by reducing these percentages to a reasonable level to encourage and promote the full development and utilisation of machinery for voluntary negotiation of collective agreements in conformity with Article 4 of the Convention.

The Committee would point out that, according to the legislation, a collective labour agreement is only executory after being published in the Official Journal by the Minister of Labour or after the passage of one month from the date of its registration with that Ministry. In addition, it would point out that the Ministry of Labour may request both parties to the collective labour agreement to revise it before the publication. In this case as well the agreement only comes into force after publication or the passage of one month from the date of registration with that Ministry (Decree 17386/64, section 6).

The Committee considers that a possible refusal to register or publish a collective agreement might amount to the requirement of prior authorisation for the entry into force of a collective agreement and might thus interfere with the principle of voluntary collective bargaining set out in the Convention.

The Committee requests the Government to indicate what reasons the Ministry of Labour can use to ask both parties to revise a collective agreement before its publication, and to provide information on the frequency of refusals to register and publish.

The Committee notes that collective labour disputes taking place are submitted to an arbitration commission whose decisions are final, executory and without appeal (Decree 17386/64, sections 47 and 60). The Committee considers that the obligatory recourse to arbitration is liable to interfere with the right to collective bargaining of the persons employed in this part of the public sector.

Article 6. The Committee points out that the guarantee provided for by the Convention extend to persons employed by the State or in the public sector including persons engaged in offices under state supervision or in undertakings responsible for the management of public services in the name of the State or for their own profit, in so far as they are not engaged in the administration of the State. It requests the Government to inform it of the legal provisions in force or envisaged which will allow these persons to enjoy the rights conferred on them by the Convention.