Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Burundi (Ratification: 1997)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. The Committee also notes the general comments of 30 August 2005 sent by the Trade Union Confederation of Burundi (COSYBU) and asks the Government to reply to them.

1. Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Convention. The Committee noted previously that the penalties set in the Labour Code for breach of Article 1 (protection of workers against acts of anti-union discrimination) and Article 2 (protection of workers’ and employers’ organizations against acts of interference by each other) of the Convention were not sufficiently dissuasive to ensure that these provisions were applied. The Committee noted that, according to the Government, the provisions in question were to be amended with cooperation from the social partners. COSYBU, in its comments, reported an absence of effective mechanisms to ensure protection against acts of anti-union discrimination. In its more recent comments, it refers to a number of acts of anti-union discrimination. The Committee hopes that the Government will be able to make the necessary amendments to its legislation in the near future and requests it to keep the Committee informed of any progress in this regard.

2. The Committee notes that in its comments COSYBU draws the Committee’s attention to several serious breaches of the Convention including dismissals or threats of dismissals, transfers and imprisonment of trade unionists for participation in trade union activities. The Committee recalls in this connection that the protection afforded to workers and trade union leaders against acts of anti-union discrimination constitutes an essential aspect of freedom of association (see General Survey of 1994 on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraph 202). The Committee requests the Government to respond to COSYBU’s comments and to ensure that the Convention is being observed in the enterprises or institutions concerned.

3. Article 4. The Committee noted previously that according to the Government’s report there was only one collective agreement in Burundi. The Committee again requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the measures taken to promote collective bargaining, together with practical information on the state of progress of collective bargaining, particularly the number of collective agreements concluded to date and the sectors of activity concerned.

4. Article 6. The Committee previously took note of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions’ (ICFTU) assertion that public sector wages are excluded, inter alia, by the national legislation, from the scope of collective bargaining, and asked the Government to reply to that observation and to explain exactly how the right to collective bargaining of all staff in public establishments and "personalized" administrations, including persons on secondment to them, was ensured. The Committee noted that the Government referred to section 1 of Act No. 1/015 of 29 November 2002 regulating the exercise of the right to organize and the right to strike in the public service, which provides that all state employees have the right to associate freely in trade unions in order to promote and protect their occupational interests. The Committee observes that it is not possible to ascertain from this provision whether wages and other conditions of work in the public sector are excluded from the scope of collective bargaining, and requests the Government to provide information in this regard.

5. The Committee reminds the Government that the Convention applies to public employees who are not engaged in the administration of the State, and requests the Government to specify whether there are still provisions in force that imply restrictions on the scope of collective bargaining for the public service as a whole in Burundi, particularly as regards wage fixing, such as: (1) section 45 of Legislative Decree No. 1/23 of 26 July 1988, providing that following approval by the relevant ministry the governing bodies of public establishments set the level of remuneration for permanent and temporary posts and determine the conditions for appointment and dismissal; and (2) section 24 of Legislative Decree No. 1/24, which provides that governing bodies of public establishments draw up staff regulations of personalized administrations subject to the approval of the competent minister. The Committee once again asks the Government to provide specific information on any agreement concluded in the public sector on conditions of employment, including wages.

The Committee hopes that a report will be submitted to the Committee for examination at its next session and that it will contain full information on the questions raised in its last direct request.