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

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Saint Lucia (Ratification: 1980)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Scope of application of the Act. In its previous comments, the Committee had requested specifications on the workers included in the “protective services” (section 3 of the Registration, Status and Recognition of Trade Unions and Employers’ Organizations Act, 1999) who were excluded from the Act. The Committee recalls that the Convention only permits exclusions from its provisions in respect of the police and armed forces. The Committee is of the opinion that functions exercised by service personnel and prison staff should not justify their exclusion from the right to organize, but that restrictions imposed as regards the means of exerting pressure (such as restrictions on the right to strike) are another matter altogether (see General Survey of 1994 on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraph 56). Therefore, the Committee requests the Government to amend its legislation to ensure the right to organize for fire service personnel and prison staff.

Article 2 of the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted that the minimum founding membership for a trade union (30) and for an employers’ organization (ten) should be reduced to a reasonable level so that the establishment of organizations is not hindered. The Committee had noted that these numbers have been revised in the draft Labour Code and reduced to 20 and six, respectively. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of developments in this respect and to submit the draft text with its next report.