Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

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

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in relation to the recommendations of the 2008 direct contacts mission, the comments submitted by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in communications dated 29 August 2008 and 26 August 2009 on the application of the Convention. The Committee further notes the discussion that took place in the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in June 2009.

In its previous comments, the Committee had urged the Government to conduct a full and independent inquiry without delay into the allegations made by the ITUC and the Education International (EI) relating to arrests of trade unionists, their torture and mistreatment when in detention, and continuing intimidation and interference. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that all allegations presented with credible evidence are fully investigated by constitutional bodies including the courts, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, the Office of the Ombudsman, or by a mechanism approved by the House of Peoples’ Representatives. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report the status and specific details on the outcome of the ongoing investigations of each of the abovementioned allegations.

In its previous comments, the Committee urged the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the resolution of the registration of the National Association of Ethiopian Teachers (NTA). It further notes the conclusions of the Conference Committee in which the Government was asked to report on the measures taken to ensure concrete progress including the registration of the NTA. The Committee regrets to note that the NTA has not yet been registered despite its comments and the conclusions of the Conference Committee and urges the Government to ensure its registration without delay so that all teachers may fully exercise the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing.

The Committee recalls that in previous comments it had requested the Government to take measures to amend the Civil Servant Proclamation, so as to ensure the right of civil servants, including teachers in public schools, to form and join trade unions. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that this right is enshrined under article 42 of the Constitution and provides that government employees whose work compatibility allows for it and who are below a certain level of responsibility have the right to form associations to improve their conditions of employment and economic well-being. In addition, the Government states that it has expressed to all relevant bodies that it shall achieve full compliance gradually by preparing the necessary conditions and the capacity of the country to shoulder the full extent of this right. The Committee recalls that public servants, like all other workers, without distinction whatsoever, have the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing, without previous authorization, for the promotion and defence of their occupational interests. The Committee once again urges the Government to provide in its next report information on the measures taken to fully guarantee the rights under the Convention to civil servants (including teachers in the public sector).

The Committee once again recalls that for several years it has been expressing its concern over the Labour Proclamation (2003), which falls short of ensuring full application of the Convention. In particular, the Committee recalls that it had previously requested the Government:

–      to ensure the right to organize of the following categories of workers excluded, by section 3, from the scope of application of the Labour Proclamation: workers whose employment relations arise out of a contract concluded for the purpose of upbringing, treatment, care, rehabilitation, education, training (other than apprenticeship); contract of personal service for non-profit-making purposes; managerial employees, as well as employees of state administration; judges and prosecutors, who were governed by special laws;

–      to delete air transport and urban bus services from the list of essential services in which strike action is prohibited (section 136(2));

–      to amend its legislation so as to ensure that, except in situations concerning essential services in the strict sense of the term, acute national crisis and public servants exercising authority in the name of the State, recourse to arbitration is allowed only upon the request of both parties;

–      to amend section 158(3), according to which the strike vote should be taken by the majority of the workers concerned in a meeting in which at least two-thirds of the members of the trade union were present, so as to lower the quorum required for a strike ballot; and

–      to ensure that the provisions of the Labour Proclamation which, as noted above, restrict the right of workers to organize their activities, are not invoked to cancel an organization's registration pursuant to section 120(c) until they have been brought into conformity with the provisions of the Convention.

The Committee regrets that the Government provides no indication as to the concrete measures taken to bring the legislation and practice into greater conformity with the Convention, nor is there any mention of a timetable on steps to be taken as requested by the Conference Committee. In these circumstances, the Committee urges the Government to provide detailed information with its next report on the measures envisaged in this regard and on the time frame for such action.