Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Central African Republic (Ratification: 1960)

Article 2 of the Convention. Workers’ and employers’ right, without any distinction whatsoever, to establish organizations and join them without prior authorization. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to indicate the legislative provisions that protect the right of self-employed workers to freely establish and join organizations of their own choosing, given their exclusion from the scope of application of the current Labour Code (section 2). The Committee welcomes the fact that, according to the Government, the scope of application of the draft law establishing the revised Labour Code, as transmitted to Parliament for adoption, henceforth extends to self-employed workers. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any new developments concerning the persons covered by the revised Labour Code and to transmit a copy of the legislation once it has been adopted by Parliament.

Regarding section 18 of the current Labour Code, under which enterprise-level trade union sections and local sections can be created within occupational trade unions, the Committee has repeatedly requested the Government to indicate the legal provisions that permit the creation of enterprise-level trade unions outside of trade union sections. In the absence of a reply, the Committee once again reiterates its request, and requests the Government to provide any relevant information, including within the framework of the current revision of the Labour Code, aimed at ensuring the creation of enterprise-level trade unions.

Article 3. Workers’ right to freely organize their activities. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that under the terms of section 381 of the Labour Code, during a strike an obligatory minimum service is required for certain enterprises owing to their social utility or their distinctive nature, and that the list of enterprises concerned and the conditions for implementing the minimum service are determined by order of the Ministry of Labour after consultation with the Standing National Labour Council (CNPT), the tripartite advisory body. Noting that, according to the Government, the mechanism under section 381 appears to have been reproduced identically in section 404 of the draft law establishing the revised Labour Code, the Committee requests the Government to provide any information relating to the adoption of this provision by Parliament. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the determination of the list of enterprises concerned and the conditions for implementing the minimum service, and on any measures taken to mitigate the risk of imposing a minimum service in an excessive number of activities. The Committee recalls, in this regard, that any disagreement on the determination of a minimum service should be resolved not by the government authorities but by a joint or independent body which has the confidence of the parties. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on this matter.

Lastly, the Committee has repeatedly asked the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 11 of Order No. 81/028 on the Government’s power of requisitioning during strikes where required in the general interest, so as to limit the power of requisitioning to cases where the right to strike may be restricted or even prohibited, namely in the public service for public servants exercising authority in the name of the State, in essential services in the strict sense of the term or in an acute national crisis. While noting the Government’s reiteration that it takes this request into account, the Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position to report, in the near future, on the specific progress made, in prior consultation with the social partners, with regard to the amendment of the above provision in order to align Order No. 81/028 with the Convention.