Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Angola (Ratification: 1976)

The Committee takes note of the comments made by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in 2013 on matters already dealt with by the Committee.

Legislative reforms. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted new bills to revise the Collective Bargaining Act No. 20-A/92, the Trade Union Act No. 21-C/92 and the Strike Act No. 23/91, which contained some of the amendments the Committee had suggested and underlined as necessary. The Committee hopes that the technical assistance requested will be provided in the near future and requests the Government to ensure that the trade union organizations of public servants who are not engaged in the administration of the State have, under the new Constitution, the right to negotiate with their public employers on wages as well as other terms and conditions of employment.

The Committee had requested the amendment of sections 20 and 28 of Collective Bargaining Act No. 20-A/92 which provide that collective labour disputes in public utility enterprises may be settled through compulsory arbitration by the Ministry of Labour, Public Administration and Social Security after the parties have been heard. The Committee had noted that the list of public utility activities (section 1.3) was much broader than the concept of essential services in the strict sense of the term (namely, services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population). The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend – within the framework of the technical assistance requested by the Government – sections 20 and 28 of the Act in question so that compulsory arbitration may be imposed only in cases involving essential services in the strict sense of the term. The Committee notes that the Government reiterates its request for technical assistance and that five tripartite bodies are in place. The Committee hopes that the Government will take account of all the comments made in order to bring the current legislation fully in line with the Convention. The Committee requests the Government once again to enclose a copy of the Bill revising Collective Bargaining Act No. 20-A/92 with its next report, or the text that might have been adopted meanwhile.

The Committee also hopes that the process of revising the laws related to the application of the Convention will be carried out with the technical assistance of the Office.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.