Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Colombia (Ratification: 1976)

In earlier comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the application in practice of the trade union contracts provided for in sections 482–484 of the Substantive Labour Code and which had not been used until recently. The Committee recalls that these are contracts concluded by one or more union of workers with one or more employers or employers’ organizations for the provision of services or the execution of a task by their members. The Committee observes that, according to section 483, “a workers’ trade union which has concluded a trade union contract shall be liable both for the direct obligations arising out of the contract and for compliance with those established for its members, except in the event of mere suspension of the contract, as envisaged by the law or the agreement, and shall have the legal personality to exercise both the rights and the actions which correspond to it directly, as well as those which correspond to each of its members. For these purposes, each of the contracting parties shall constitute an adequate surety; otherwise, it shall be understood that the assets of each party shall cover the respective obligations”. The Committee observes that the Government has not sent its comments on the above. In these circumstances, the Committee once again asks the Government to provide information on the application in practice of trade union contracts (purpose, liabilities) specifying the number of such contracts concluded and to furnish copies of some such contracts by way of an example.