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

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Lesotho (Ratification: 1966)

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report. It also notes the comments of the Congress of Lesotho Trade Unions (COLETU) dated 27 May 2005.

The Committee’s previous comments concerned the need to allow public servants who are not employed in the administration of the State to bargain collectively in respect of their employment conditions.

The Committee notes with satisfaction from the Government’s latest report the text of the Public Service Act No. 1 of 2005, which replaced the Public Service Act No. 13 of 1995, and contains provisions giving public servants the right to organize (sections 21 and 22), engage in collective bargaining (sections 15(1)(iv), 25(1)(c)), and establishes dispute settlement mechanisms (sections 17-20).

The Committee notes the comments made by COLETU according to which, although the revision of the Public Service Act of 1995 is a commendable move, the Government continues to obstruct collective bargaining in the education sector. In particular, according to COLETU, the Government took to the High Court a dispute between the Lesotho University Teacher and Researchers Union (LUTARU) and the University Council, which was already being heard by the Directorate of Dispute Prevention and Resolution (DDPR); as a result, the case is neither proceeding in the DDPR nor the High Court. Moreover, a case which had been brought by the Lesotho Teachers’ Trade Union (LTTU) to the High Court has been pending for ten years. The Committee requests the Government to provide its observations on these comments and to take all necessary measures so as to promote a prompt and negotiated solution to the long-standing disputes mentioned by COLETU concerning teachers who are not public servants engaged in the administration of the State and therefore are covered by the right to collective bargaining by virtue of Article 4 of the Convention.