Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151) - Spain (Ratification: 1984)

The Committee notes the observations of the General Union of Workers (UGT) and the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (CCOO), both received on 1 September 2015.

Article 6 of the Convention. Trade union elections for personnel posted abroad. In relation to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report: (i) that the trade union elections for personnel posted abroad were suspended due to exceptional circumstances relating to the high cost that impeded, during a difficult economic period, the electoral process; and (ii) that it was decided to establish a single constituency, as the elections agreement involved a broad diversity of constituencies, and significant economic, legal and practical difficulties arose during the implementation of the election procedure. Taking due note of the Government’s explanations and emphasizing the importance of ensuring appropriate representation of all public employees, and of the availability to representatives of recognized public employees’ organizations of appropriate facilities to enable them to carry out their functions, the Committee trusts that the trade union elections for personnel posted abroad will be held in the near future. In this respect, taking into account that a single global constituency may give rise to practical issues in terms of appropriate representation, and in the light of the number of public employees and the specific conditions in the various destinations, the Committee invites the Government to discuss with the most representative organizations of public employees how to structure the representation of personnel posted abroad in order to promote their effective representation.

Article 8. Out-of-court dispute settlement procedures. The Committee notes the observations of the UGT and the CCOO alleging the absence of a system of out-of-court dispute settlement for public employees, even though the trade unions have requested the establishment of such a system, and the possibility of its creation is envisaged in section 45 of the Public Employees Basic Statute. The Committee requests the Government to send its comments on this matter.