Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Trinidad and Tobago (Ratification: 1963)

The Committee notes that the Government has not provided its report.

The Committee notes the comments of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) dated 10 August 2006, relating to pending legislative issues that are already under examination.

The Committee also recalls that it has been requesting the Government for several years to take measures to:

–      amend section 59(4)(a) of the Industrial Relations Act, as amended, so as to enable a simple majority of the voters in a bargaining unit (excluding those workers not taking part in the vote) to call a strike. The Committee is bound to recall that the requirement for the exercise of the right to strike to be subject to prior approval by a certain percentage of workers is not in itself incompatible with the Convention; on the other hand, legislative provisions which require a vote by workers before a strike can be held should ensure that account is taken only of the votes cast, and that the required quorum and majority are fixed at a reasonable level (see 1994 General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraph 170);

–      amend sections 61 and 65 of the same Act to ensure that any recourse to the courts by the Ministry of Labour or by one party only to end a strike is limited to cases of strikes in essential services in the strict sense of the term, that is those in which the strike would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population, or in cases of acute national crisis or in relation to public servants exercising authority in the name of the State;

–      amend section 67 of the Act to ensure that the prohibition of industrial action in essential services is limited to cases of strikes in essential services in the strict sense of the term (in particular, the Committee noted the inclusion in the list of essential services in schedule 2 of a public school bus service, which cannot be considered to be essential in the strict sense of the term); and

–      repeal the restrictions under section 69 prohibiting the teaching service and employees of the Central Bank from taking industrial action, under penalty of 18 months’ imprisonment, in the case that such restrictions are still in force.

Recalling that the right to strike is an intrinsic corollary of the right of association protected by the Convention, the Committee once again urges the Government to take the necessary measures to amend the legislation so as to bring it into conformity with the provisions of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report any measure adopted in this respect.