Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Central African Republic (Ratification: 1964)

The Committee notes the Government’s indication, in response to the Committee’s previous comments, that it is taking measures in the implementing regulations of the Labour Code, in particular with regard to the issue of wage bargaining. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in this regard. Moreover, the Committee observes that the Government’s report does not contain a reply to its previous comments.

Articles 2, 4 and 6 of the Convention. Legislative matters. The Committee recalls that for several years its comments have concerned the following points:

• -section 30(2) of the Labour Code (insufficient protection against all the acts of interference envisaged in Article 2 of the Convention and absence of penalties). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any progress achieved in respect of the previously announced adoption of regulations to extend the protection afforded against acts of interference and to impose penalties.
• -section 40 of the Labour Code (collective agreements must be discussed by the representative employers’ and workers’ organizations belonging to the occupation concerned). The Committee requests the Government to indicate the legislative provision which grants federations and confederations the right to engage in collective bargaining.
• -sections 197 and 198 of the Labour Code (possibility for professional groupings of workers to engage in collective bargaining with the employer on an equal footing with trade unions). Recalling that Article 4 of the Convention promotes collective bargaining between employers and workers’ organizations, the Committee requested the Government to indicate the measures taken to ensure that professional groupings of workers may negotiate collective agreements with employers only where no trade union exists in the bargaining units concerned. The Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position to report specific progress in this respect in the near future.
• -section 211 of the Labour Code (right to collective bargaining in the public service limited to “public services, enterprises and establishments not governed by specific conditions of service”). Recalling that the Convention applies to all public servants not engaged in the administration of the State, the Committee requests the Government to provide clarification on the scope of application of section 211, particularly specifying the extent to which the right to engage in collective bargaining is recognized for all public employees, with the possible exception of public servants engaged in the administration of the State, the armed forces and the police.

Furthermore, the Committee previously asked the Government to reply to the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) alleging that there is no collective bargaining in the wage-fixing process in the public sector. The Government indicated that, in the context of fixing minimum wages in the public sector, the opinion of the tripartite Standing National Labour Council (CNPT) is taken into account. The Government also declared that, since it is the biggest employer in the country and it is part of the CNPT, engaging in collective bargaining on the wages of public servants would be a duplication of effort. While noting the explanations provided by the Government, the Committee recalled that, under the terms of the Convention, public servants other than those engaged in the administration of the State should have the benefit of machinery for negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment, including the question of wages other than the minimum wage. In view of the lack of information from the Government on this matter, the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to promote such bargaining machinery in the public sector.

Lastly, the Committee requested the Government to consider amending sections 367–370 of the Labour Code, which appear to establish a procedure whereby all collective disputes are subject to conciliation and, failing resolution, to arbitration. In view of the lack of information from the Government on this matter, the Committee repeats its request, recalling that recourse to compulsory arbitration in all cases where the parties do not reach agreement through collective bargaining is only acceptable in relation to public servants engaged in the administration of the State (Article 6 of the Convention), essential services in the strict sense of the term or in the event of an acute national crisis. The Committee also once again requests the Government to provide its comments on the matter of compulsory recourse to long conciliation or arbitration procedures in the event of a dispute, as raised by the ITUC in its 2013 observations.

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