Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Namibia (Ratification: 1995)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It further notes the comments submitted by the Public Service Union of Namibia (PSUN) in a communication of 26 October 2007, and by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in a communication of 29 August 2008, concerning the application of the Convention and, in particular, the exclusion of prison service staff from the provisions of the new Labour Act of 2007, and hence from the guarantees afforded by the Convention.

Article 6 of the Convention. Rights of prison staff. The Committee notes the adoption of the new Labour Act of 2007 which has not yet entered into force. The Committee notes that section 2(2)(d) of the Labour Act excludes members of the Namibian prison service from the Labour Act’s provisions, unless the Prisons Service Act provides otherwise. The Committee further notes, in this regard, that the Prisons Service Act does not provide for the extension of the new Labour Act’s guarantees to the Namibian prison service; nor does it contain any provisions establishing freedom of association rights for the latter.

In these circumstances, the Committee recalls that all public service workers, with the sole possible exception of the armed forces, the police, and public servants directly engaged in the administration of the State, should enjoy the rights enshrined in the Convention, including the right to collective bargaining. The Committee expresses the hope that the necessary legislative amendments to guarantee, to the prisons service, the rights provided under the Convention will be adopted in the near future and requests the Government to indicate, in its next report, any developments in this regard.

A request concerning other points is being addressed directly to the Government.