Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Yemen (Ratification: 1969)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report.

The Committee notes with regret that, despite the assurances given by the Government in previous reports and to the Conference Committee in June 1993 that it was undertaking a revision of the national legislation with a view to bringing it into conformity with the requirements of the Convention, the Government confines itself in its report to repeating the information provided previously that the draft texts of the new Labour Code and a Bill respecting trade unions contain provisions to give effect to the Convention.

In these circumstances, the Committee is bound yet again to recall that its comments have dealt with the following points:

(a) the need to adopt specific and appropriate provisions, accompanied by effective and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions, to guarantee explicitly the protection of workers against any act of anti-union discrimination by employers, both at the time of recruitment and during employment, and the protection of workers' organizations against acts of interference by employers, contrary to Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention;

(b) the need to adopt appropriate measures to encourage and promote the full development and utilization of machinery for the voluntary negotiation of collective agreements; and

(c) the need to amend the provisions governing the compulsory registration of collective agreements and the possibility of their cancellation in the event that they do not conform with the security and/or economic interests of the country (sections 68, 69 and 71 of the Labour Code of 1970).

The Committee firmly hopes that the Government will make every effort to ensure that the new Labour Code, the draft text of which was prepared with the technical assistance of the ILO, as well as the new Bill respecting trade unions, will be adopted in the very near future, so that its legislation can be brought into conformity with the requirements of the Convention. It recalls that the technical assistance of the ILO is at its disposal and requests the Government to indicate clearly in its next report at what stage of adoption the two above-mentioned draft texts find themselves to be (i.e. awaiting parliamentary debate or approval, or alternatively approval from the Executive or promulgation by the President).