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

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Colombia (Ratification: 1976)

In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the impact in practice of the application of Decree No. 017 of 2016, which aims to optimize procedures for the establishment of labour arbitration tribunals and to provide its comments on the proposals made by the trade union confederations for the introduction of additional improvements in arbitration procedures. In this regard, the Committee notes that the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), on the one hand, and the Single Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CUT) and the Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CTC), on the other, agree in stating in their last observations that: (i) despite the adoption of the Decree, the length of time taken for the establishment of arbitration tribunals and for them to issue their awards is usually excessively long (they indicate that the average is 369 days, but that in extreme cases it can be four years); (ii) an appeal to set aside an arbitration award should not have the effect of suspending its application to prevent the use of appeals as an additional delaying tactic by enterprises; (iii) the procedures for the appointment of the third arbitrator in the tribunal should be changed to prevent them being selected from lawyers’ offices that are close to the enterprise; and (iv) compulsory mediation machinery should be established upon the expiry of the direct settlement stage to maximize the possibilities of avoiding the arbitration tribunal. The Committee notes in particular the indication by the trade union confederations that 23 per cent of collective bargaining processes involving trade unions are settled by arbitration tribunals and that the slowness and flaws in the procedure place trade unions in a situation of particular disadvantage in view of the rapidity with which enterprises conclude collective accords with workers who are not employees. The Committee notes that the CUT and CTC add in their 2020 observations that, as at September 2020, only 1 per cent of applications registered in 2019 to establish an arbitration tribunal had resulted in an arbitration award being issued.

The Committee further notes that the Government indicates in the information provided in 2019 and 2020 that: (i) the development of the arbitration procedure has its own regulations - Law 1563 of 2012 - which respects due process; (ii) in 2019, a total of 171 applications to establish an arbitration tribunal were registered, resulting in an arbitration award being issued in one case and in the withdrawal of the application or the conclusion of an agreement in another 13 cases; the other 157 applications are still being processed; and (iii) the delay in the arbitration tribunals is due to various factors, including the incomplete nature of the application submitted by the parties or situations such as the non-acceptance or resignation of an arbitrator. The Committee also notes that, although it does not provide information on the various aspects of the arbitration procedure highlighted by the workers’ organizations, the Government states that it is considering the possibility of amending the regulations in order to overcome any difficulties that may have arisen in the course of the procedure. Recalling the importance for the effective promotion of collective bargaining of the existence of effective machinery for the voluntary settlement of collective disputes and encouraged by the Government’s indication that it envisages the possibility of a regulatory amendment in this regard, the Committee requests the Government to engage in discussions with the social partners to improve the efficiency of mediation, conciliation and arbitration procedures in collective labour relations. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any developments in this regard.

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2021.]