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

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Tunisia (Ratification: 1957)

1. In reply to its request for information on the normalisation of trade union life, the Committee notes with interest that the work of the National Trade Union Commission that is responsible for renewing basic trade union structures, has been completed, and that in April 1989 an extraordinary congress of the UGTT was held for the election of an executive board that includes the various trade union tendencies. Furthermore, the property of the UGTT has been returned to it and many trade unionists have benefited from the new Amnesty Act No. 89-63 of 3 July 1989.

2. With regard to the revision of the Labour Code, which envisages replacing the concepts of "national interest" and "vital interest of the nation" by the concept of essential services, the Committee notes with interest that, according to the Government's report, referral to binding arbitration (sections 384 to 386) and the procedure of requisitioning striking workers (section 389) would only be carried out in the event of a strike in essential services. The Committee trusts that the concept of essential services in which strikes can be restricted and even prohibited will be confined to services whose interruption would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population.

The Committee also notes, again from the Government's report, that the requirement of the prior authorisation of the central trade union organisation for the calling of a strike (section 376bis) will be retained and will not be replaced by the obligation to obtain a majority vote of all the workers in an enterprise, which had been mentioned in one of the Government's previous reports, and that the maintenance of this system is desired by the UGTT and the UTICA (Tunisian Union of Traders and Artisans).

The Committee points out that this provision is such as to prejudice the right of trade union organisations, at whatever level, to call a strike to defend the occupational interests of their members. However, if such is the desire of the workers, this matter should be decided not by legislative means, but by the statutes adopted by the first-level trade union organisations concerned. In this connection, the Committee recalls that under the terms of Article 8(2) of the Convention, the law of the land shall not be such as to impair the guarantees provided for in this Convention.

The Committee trusts that the Labour Code, as amended, will be adopted in the near future and that account will be taken of its comments on the proposed amendments. The Committee requests the Government to supply full information on the progress made in bringing its legislation into full conformity with the Convention.