Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Sierra Leone (Ratification: 1961)

The Committee notes with deep concern that the Government’s report has not been received. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments initially made in 2010.

Repetition

The Committee notes the allegations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in 2013 concerning restrictions to collective bargaining in the mining sector. It requests the Government to provide its observations thereon.

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Need to adopt specific provisions accompanied by sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions for the protection of workers and workers’ organizations against acts of anti-union discrimination and acts of interference. The Committee had previously noted that the revision of the labour laws, prepared with ILO technical assistance, had already been submitted to tripartite meetings, that the comments of the tripartite body had been received and that the document had just been forwarded to the Law Officers’ Department. The Committee had asked the Government to keep it informed of any further progress made in the preparation of the final draft document and to provide a copy of the revised legislation as soon as it had been adopted. Noting that, according to the information previously sent by the Government, the revision of the labour laws was submitted to the Law Officers’ Department in 1995, the Committee requests the Government once again to make every effort to take the necessary action for the adoption of the new legislation in the very near future and to indicate the progress made in this regard.

Article 4. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the collective agreements in force in the education sector and in other sectors.

The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide a detailed report on the application of the Convention, accompanied by copies of any legal texts concerning freedom of association adopted since 1992 (year of a draft Industrial Relations Act).

The Committee expects that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.