Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1992, published 79th ILC session (1992)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Djibouti (Ratification: 1978)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government's report contains no reply to its previous comments. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous direct request which concerned the right of workers and workers' organisations to establish organisations of their own choosing without prior authorisation, and restrictions on the right to strike and on the right of workers to elect their representatives in full freedom.

Article 2 of the Convention. The right of workers to establish organisations of their choice without prior authorisation. Under section 5 of the French Act on Associations of 1901, as amended on 27 June 1977, which, according to a previous report of the Government, applies to occupational unions in Djibouti, trade unions are obliged to register a statement of their establishment in order to obtain legal personality. The Committee again requests the Government to indicate what channels of appeal are available to the constituent members of a trade union in the event that, after registering this statement, a receipt of the statement is not issued within the prescribed time-limits.

Article 3. Limitation on the right to strike. The Committee recalls that the limitation or prohibition of the right to strike should be confined to public servants acting in their capacity as agents of the public authority or to services whose interruption would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. The Committee refers to section 20 of Decree No. 83-099/PR/FP of 10 September 1983 establishing the conditions for the exercise of the right to organise and the right to strike, and again requests the Government to indicate in its next report which categories of public servants do not enjoy the right to strike under specific conditions of service or because they are engaged in employment which is included in a list established by Order. Furthermore, the Committee asks the Government to transmit any decree adopted under section 23 of the above Decree to requisition public servants who are indispensable to the life of the nation and to the operation of essential services.

Right of workers to elect their representatives in full freedom. The Committee emphasises that, in its opinion, legislative provisions which restrict the holding of trade union office to nationals of the country are such as to restrict the right of workers to elect their representatives in full freedom, and requests the Government to envisage the adoption of measures to make the legislation more flexible so as to enable foreign workers to hold trade union office, at least after a reasonable period of residence in the country.

Article 5. The right of federations and confederations and international affiliation. In the opinion of the Committee, in order to defend the interests of their members more effectively, first-level trade unions must have the right to establish federations and confederations of their own choosing. The Committee refers to section 27 of the Statutes of the General Union of Djibouti Workers (UGTD), and again requests the Government in its next report to state what effect is given to this provision in practice and, in particular, whether the UGTD has already expelled a national trade union and, if so, what were the consequences of this action.

In the absence of specific provisions on this matter, the Committee again asks the Government to indicate whether, in practice, trade union organisations enjoy the right to affiliate with international organisations.