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

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Guyana (Ratification: 1967)

The Committee notes the observations of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) received on 1 September 2016, which are of a general nature.

The Committee notes with concern that the Government’s report has not been received.

The Committee observes that the Public Utility Undertakings and Public Health Services (Arbitration) Act (hereinafter the Act), an object of its previous comments, was amended by Act 14 of 2009. While welcoming the narrowing of the list of essential services introduced by the amendment, the Committee observes that the Act, by conferring upon the Minister broad powers to refer to compulsory arbitration disputes in some services going beyond essential services in the strict sense of the term (services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population), and by providing for sanctions (fine or imprisonment) in the event of an illegal strike, still compromises the right of workers organizations’ to organize their activities freely and to formulate their programmes as provided for under the Convention.

The Committee observes, in relation to the list of services listed in the Schedule of the Act, that “dockage, wharfage, discharging, loading or unloading of vessels or related services” do not constitute essential services in the strict sense of the term. As to the reference to “any service essential to the continued provision of telecommunications”, the Committee notes that, while some telecommunication services may constitute essential services (for example, in the past the committee has considered telephone services under such category) the broad formulation contained in the Schedule could apply to other non-essential services and thus unduly restrict the legitimate exercise of the right of workers’ organizations to organize their activities.

Concerning section 19 of the Act, setting out penalties which had also been the object of previous comments, the Committee observes that the amendment set higher fines than those provided for in the previous Act and maintains the imprisonment for those workers who take part in an illegal strike. The Committee recalls in this regard that no penal sanctions should be imposed against workers for having carried out a peaceful strike.

The Committee requests the Government, in consultation with the social partners, to take any necessary measures to amend the legislation so as to bring it into conformity with the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to indicate any progress made in this respect.