Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

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

Article 3 of the Convention. Right of workers’ organizations to organize their activities in full freedom and to formulate their programmes. The Committee recalls that for several years it has been referring to the need to take steps to amend sections 389 and 390 of the Labour Code, which provide that collective disputes shall be referred to compulsory arbitration when 30 days have elapsed since the calling of the strike. In this regard, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that: (i) negotiation boards are set up as a matter of urgency whenever socio-economic demands arise in a workplace; and (ii) there have been no changes in national law and practice to enable amendments to sections 389 and 390 of the Labour Code. The Committee is bound to note with regret once again the lack of progress regarding the amendment of the abovementioned provisions of the Labour Code. The Committee recalls that the imposition of compulsory arbitration to end a strike in cases other than those where strike action may be limited or even prohibited is contrary to the right of workers’ organizations to freely organize their activities and formulate their programmes. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to take the necessary steps to amend sections 389 and 390 of the Labour Code so as to ensure that compulsory arbitration can only occur in cases where strike action may be limited or even prohibited, namely in disputes within the public service concerning public servants exercising authority in the name of the State, in essential services in the strict sense of the term, or in situations of acute national crisis.

Article 11. Protection of the right to organize. The Committee welcomes the information provided by the Government on various initiatives aimed at promoting the right to organize and which include, inter alia, the distribution of handbooks for establishing and updating trade unions, the protection of the right to organize of own-account workers, and the promotion of gender equality policies within the trade union movement. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that, as a result of the policies to promote and foster unionization, a total of 62 new trade union organizations with 2,469 members were established in 2016, and 1,031 trade unions with 71,847 workers were updated. The Committee duly notes this information and requests the Government to provide information concerning the implementation of the abovementioned policies.