Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949 (No. 94) - Djibouti (Ratification: 1978)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments.

Repetition

Article 2 of the Convention. Inclusion of labour clauses in public contracts. In its previous comment, the Committee asked the Government to take prompt steps to ensure the effective implementation of the Convention. The Committee notes once again that clause 9.1 of the General Administrative Terms and Conditions applicable to public procurement, adopted by Decree No. 2010 0084/PRE of 8 May 2010, and the exclusion provided for in section 13.1.1 of the Public Procurement Code are insufficient to give effect to the key requirements of the Convention. Article 2 of the Convention provides for the inclusion of labour clauses in all public contracts covered by the scope of Article 1 – drawn up after consultation of the employers’ and workers’ organizations – ensuring to the workers concerned conditions of remuneration and other conditions of labour which are not less favourable than those established by national laws or regulations, collective agreements or arbitration awards for work of the same character in the same sector. In its 2008 General Survey concerning labour clauses in public contracts, paragraph 45, the Committee observed that the essential purpose of the Convention is to ensure that workers employed under public contracts shall enjoy the same conditions as workers whose conditions of employment are fixed not only by national legislation but also by collective agreements or arbitration awards, and that in many cases the provisions of the national legislation respecting wages, hours of work and other conditions of employment provide merely for minimum standards which may be exceeded by collective agreements. The Committee therefore feels that the mere fact of the national legislation being applicable to all workers does not release the States which have ratified the Convention from the obligation to take the necessary steps to ensure that public contracts contain the labour clauses specified in Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee therefore considers that the mere fact that the legislation applies to all workers does not release the government concerned from its obligation to include labour clauses in all public contracts, in accordance with Article 2(1) and (2) of the Convention. In this context, the Committee notes that the Government has not yet taken steps to give effect to the provisions of the Convention. It also notes the request made by the Government in its report for technical assistance to ensure the effective application of the Convention. The Committee recalls once again that the Convention does not necessarily require the adoption of new legislation but may be applied by means of administrative instructions or circulars. The Committee expresses the hope that technical assistance from the Office will be available in the near future and requests the Government to provide information on all measures taken or contemplated to ensure the effective application of the Convention.

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