Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2004, published 93rd ILC session (2005)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Mozambique (Ratification: 1996)

The Committee notes the Government’s report and in particular its statement that the labour administration gives assistance to the social partners in order to overcome certain technical difficulties encountered during collective bargaining. The Committee also notes two collective agreements sent by the Government and requests it to send information on the number of collective agreements in force and on the sectors and workers covered.

The Committee recalls that its previous comments referred to the following matters.

(a) Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. The Committee noted that Labour Act No. 8/98 did not lay down sufficiently dissuasive sanctions to guarantee the protection of workers against acts of anti-union discrimination and acts of interference. The Government undertook to make all the necessary efforts to guarantee that sanctions would be effective. The Committee notes that the Government’s last report does not contain information in this regard. The Committee again requests the Government to adopt the necessary measures in the near future to increase the amounts of fines against discriminatory acts in order to ensure that sanctions are sufficiently effective and dissuasive in practice.

(b) Article 4. The Committee noted that in the event of a collective dispute during the adoption of revisions of a collective agreement, sections 123 and 129 of Labour Act No. 8/98 impose compulsory arbitration on the parties in services which are not essential in the strict sense of the term. The Government stated that efforts would be made to amend these provisions in order to bring them into conformity with the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government does not mention this aspect in its report and again requests the Government to adopt measures in the near future to amend these provisions so that arbitration in the context of collective bargaining in non-essential services is compulsory only if requested by both parties.

(c) Article 6. The Committee requested the Government to indicate whether public servants who are not engaged in the administration of the State enjoy the guarantees provided for by the Convention and, if so, under which provisions. The Committee also requested the Government to clarify the meaning of subordinate institutions governed by special conditions of work, to indicate whether employees in these institutions enjoy the right to collective bargaining and, if so, under which legal provisions, and to send a copy of the conditions of service of public servants. The Government referred to negotiations in the context of state enterprises or public enterprises but not to other public servants. The Committee expresses the hope that the Government will provide the information and texts requested in its next report.

The Committee expresses the firm hope that the Government will reply in detail to the questions raised in its next report.