Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Honduras (Ratification: 1956)

The Committee notes the Government’s report and recalls that it has been commenting for many years on the following points:

-  the exclusion from the scope of the Labour Code, and thus from the rights and guarantees of the Convention, of workers in certain agricultural or stock-raising enterprises which do not permanently employ more than ten workers (section 2(1));

-  the prohibition of more than one trade union in a single enterprise, institution, or establishment (section 472);

-  the requirement of more than 30 workers to constitute a trade union (section 475);

-  the requirement that the officers of a trade union, federation or confederation must be of Honduran nationality (sections 510(a) and 541(a)), be engaged in the corresponding activity (sections 510(c) and 541(c)) and be able to read and write (sections 510(d) and 541(d));

-  restrictions on the right to strike, namely:

n  the ban on strikes being called by federations and confederations (section 537);

n  the requirement of a two-thirds majority of the votes of the total membership of the trade union organization in order to call a strike (sections 495 and 563);

n  the power of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to end disputes in oil production, refining, transport and distribution services (section 555(2));

n  the need for government authorization or a six-month period of notice for any suspension or stoppage of work in public services that do not depend directly or indirectly on the State (section 558); and

n  the submission to compulsory arbitration, without the possibility of calling a strike for as long as the arbitration award is in force (two years), of collective disputes in public services which are not essential in the strict sense of the term (sections 554(2) and (7), 820 and 826).

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that Decree No. 760 of 25 May 1979, which lifted the restriction that 90 per cent of the members of trade union organizations must be Honduran nationals, continues to be in force, but that the requirement to be a Honduran national remains for trade union leaders. With regard to the other issues, the Committee notes that in its latest report the Government confines itself in general to reiterating the indications provided in previous years. The Committee also notes that the tripartite consultations with a view to bringing certain aspects of the legislation into conformity with the Convention, to which the Government referred previously, have still not been held, and that they are at a preliminary stage. The Committee expresses the firm hope that they will be held in the near future and that the necessary measures will be taken to bring all of the legislative provisions commented upon into conformity with the requirements of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of any preliminary draft text that is formulated and to provide information in its next report on any developments in this respect.