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

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Algeria (Ratification: 1962)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in reply to the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) of 2018 concerning the application in practice of certain provisions of Act No. 90-02 of 6 February 1990 on the prevention and settlement of collective labour disputes and the exercise of the right to strike.

Minimum service. The Committee previously requested the Government to provide copies of the texts determining essential services and services of public utility under the terms of Act No. 90-02. In its reply, the Government refers to section 37 of the Act, which provides that where the strike relates to activities the total interruption of which is liable to prejudice the continuity of essential public services, vital economic activities, the provision of supplies to the population or the maintenance of installations and property, the continuation of indispensable activities shall be organized in the form of a compulsory minimum service or through negotiations. The Government also refers to section 38 of the Act, which determines the fields in which a compulsory minimum service shall be organized in the event of a strike.  The Committee requests the Government to specify the manner in which in practice minimum services are determined in each of the fields covered by sections 37 and 38 of Act No. 90-02 and the extent to which the representative organizations concerned participate in each instance. The Committee requests the Government to indicate, in this regard, the occasions in recent years that these provisions of Act No. 90-02 have been applied, with an indication, in each case, of the percentage of workers concerned by the compulsory minimum service decided upon. The Committee also requests the Government to provide examples of collective agreements or accords concluded under the terms of section 39 of the Act for the determination of minimum services in the event of a strike.

National Arbitration Commission. Noting the Government’s reply concerning the functions and composition of the National Arbitration Commission set out in section 48 of Act No. 90-12, the Committee requests the Government to provide examples of situations that have been referred to the National Arbitration Commission.

Articles 2, 3 and 5 of the Convention. Legislative amendments. The Committee recalls that the Government has been referring since 2011 to the process of the adoption of the Act revising the Labour Code and that the Committee’s previous comments referred to the draft text provided by the Government in 2015. In its latest report, the Government refers to a new version of the Labour Code and indicates that the Office’s 2015 comments have been taken into account in this regard. It adds that the new text will be submitted for consultation with the social and economic partners and that the final version will then be submitted to the competent authorities for approval and promulgation. The Committee observes that the Government has not provided a copy of the latest version of the draft Labour Code.  The Committee trusts that the comments that it reiterates below have been taken into account in the amendment of the corresponding provisions of the definitive draft text of the Labour Code in order to ensure that it is in conformity with the Convention.

Sections 510 to 512 of the draft text. The Committee notes that sections 510 and 511 refer to organizations in the same occupations, branches or sectors of activity for the purpose of the establishment of unions, federations or confederations. These provisions have the effect of preventing trade unions, irrespective of the sector to which they belong, from establishing federations and confederations of their own choosing, in accordance with Article 5 of the Convention.  The Committee requests the Government to amend sections 510 and 511 by removing the reference to the same occupations, branches or sectors of activity, in order to remove any obstacle to the establishment of federations and confederations of their choice by workers’ and employers’ organizations, irrespective of the sector to which they belong.

Section 514. The Committee notes that this provision restricts the right to establish trade unions to persons who are originally of Algerian nationality or who acquired Algerian nationality at least five years earlier. This provision is contrary to Article 2 of the Convention, which recognizes the right to establish and join trade unions or employers’ organizations without distinction, including on the basis of nationality.  The Committee requests the Government to amend section 514 so that it recognizes the right of all workers, without distinction on the basis of nationality, to establish trade unions.

Section 517. The Committee requests the Government to clarify the last paragraph of this provision by specifying the publicity requirements applicable to trade unions when they are established.

Section 525. The Committee requests the Government to submit for consultation with the social partners the second paragraph of this provision, which requires the publication in two national daily newspapers, one of which is in a national language, of information on the amendment of statutes or changes in executive committees, so that they may be challenged by third parties.

Section 534. The Committee notes that, under this section, gifts and bequests from foreign trade unions or organizations may only be received following authorization by the public authorities which verify the origin, amount, compatibility with the objective declared by the statutes of the trade union, and the constraints to which they may give rise. This provision is contrary to Articles 3 and 5 of the Convention, under which national workers’ and employers’ organizations should have the right to receive financial assistance from international workers’ and employers’ organizations without being required to obtain prior authorization.  The Committee requests the Government to amend section 534 by removing the requirement to obtain prior authorization from the public authorities.

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2022.]