Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Benin (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee notes the comments of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), dated 4 August 2011, reporting restrictions on the right to strike and on the continuing difficulty for trade union organizations to obtain legal personality. The Committee recalls that, in 2009, the ITUC had denounced acts of intimidation against the leaders of the principal trade union federations which had called a general strike in 2008 to protest against the decline in purchasing power. The Committee also notes the comments of the General Confederation of the Workers of Benin (CGTB), dated December 2009, which reported the infringement to trade union rights, thereby discouraging the establishment and free functioning of trade union organizations in enterprises in the industrial processing zone. The Committee requests the Government to provide its observations in reply to the comments made by the ITUC in 2009 and 2011, and to the allegations of the CGTB.

Article 2 of the Convention. Right to establish trade unions without previous authorization. The Committee has been requesting the Government for many years to take the necessary measures to amend section 83 of the Labour Code which requires the filing of trade union by-laws in order to obtain legal personality in particular from the Minister of the Interior, subject to a fine. In its previous observation, the Committee had noted the Government’s indication that its comments would be taken into account during the revision of the labour legislation. In its last report, while repeating its request for ILO technical assistance to help the social partners have a better understanding of the concept of freedom of association, the Government indicates that the process of revision of the Labour Code is still ongoing and that the requested amendments to the Code will be communicated in due time. Recalling that it has been making its comments for many years, the Committee trusts that the revision of the labour legislation, with the assistance of the Office, will be completed in the very near future. It expects the Government to indicate in its next report the amendments made in order to bring the legislation fully in line with the Convention with respect to establishing trade union organizations without previous authorization by removing the requirement to file their by-laws from the Ministry of the Interior, subject to a fine.

Right of workers without distinction whatsoever to establish trade unions. In its previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to revise Ordinance No. 38 PR/MTPTPT of 18 June 1968 issuing the Merchant Navy Code, which gives seafarers neither the right to organize nor the right to strike and provides for prison sentences for breaches of labour discipline. The Committee notes the adoption of Act No. 2010–11 issuing the Maritime Code of the Republic of Benin by the National Assembly on 27 December 2010. Although the Committee observes that reference is made to the representation of seafarers within the framework of collective agreements (section 224 of the Code), it requests the Government to specify those provisions that expressly grant seafarers the right to organize and the right to strike; those dealing with sanctions for breaches of labour discipline; and, more generally, those granting seafarers all the guarantees of the Convention with respect to freedom of association.