Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

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

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Article 2 of the Convention. Right to establish trade unions without previous authorization. The Committee has, on numerous occasions, insisted upon the need to amend section 83 of the Labour Code, which requires trade unions to deposit their by-laws with numerous authorities, in particular the Ministry of the Interior, in order to obtain legal status. The Government indicates that the Supreme Court has issued a technical notice on the draft new Labour Code and that the provisions of the latter are being updated in order to respond to the changes of the labour market. The Committee trusts that the process of the revision of the Labour Code will be concluded shortly and that the Government will finally be able to report on the revision of section 83 of the Labour Code. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the revised Labour Code once adopted.

Article 3. Right of workers’ organizations to organize their activities. With regard to the Committee’s previous comments concerning Act No. 2001-09 on the exercise of the right to strike, as amended by Act No. 2018-34, the Committee notes with concern that the Government merely indicates that: (i) the provisions of the Act aim essentially at ensuring continuity of the public service, the vitality of the economy, and the well-being of the population; and (ii) it notes the Committee’s recommendations. In the absence of information on how it envisages giving effect to such recommendations, the Committee is bound to recall that it is expected that the Government take the necessary steps in order to amend the following provisions of the Act in question:

• New section 2 of the Act. Scope of the Act in terms of the persons covered. Having noted that military personnel, paramilitary personnel (police, customs, water, forestry and hunting) and healthcare staff may not exercise the right to strike, the Committee recalls that it considers that States may restrict or prohibit the right to strike of public servants “exercising authority in the name of the State”, for example, civil servants in government ministries and other comparable bodies, and ancillary staff and that, when they are not exercising authority in the name of the State, they should benefit from the right to strike without being liable to sanctions, except in the case that the maintenance of a minimum service may be envisaged. This principle should also apply to civilian personnel in military institutions when they are not engaged in the provision of essential services in the strict sense of the term (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraphs 130 and 131).
• New section 17. Requisitioning in the event of a strike. The Committee notes the general wording of the criteria set out in new section 17 of the Act - according to which public service employees and employees of public, semi-public or private institutions of an essential nature, whose stoppage of work would cause serious damage to peace, security, justice, the health of the population or the public finances of the State, may be requisitioned in the event of a strike. The Committee recalls, however, that it is desirable to limit powers of requisitioning to cases in which the right to strike may be limited, or even prohibited, namely: (i) in the public service for public servants exercising authority in the name of the State; (ii) in essential services in the strict sense of the term; and (iii) in the case of an acute national or local crisis (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 151).
• New section 13. Duration of the strike. In light of the very restrictive provisions under new section 13 of the Act - which provides that the exercise of the right to strike is subject to certain conditions of duration which may not exceed ten days in any one year, seven days in a six-month period, and two days in the same month; and that regardless of the duration, the stoppage of work during a day shall be considered as a full day of strike action - the Committee recalls that workers and their organizations should be able to call a strike for an indefinite period if they so wish (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 146).
• New section 2. Sympathy strikes. Having noted that sympathy strikes are prohibited under new section 2 of the Act, the Committee recalls that a general prohibition of this form of strike action could lead to abuse, particularly in the context of globalization characterized by increasing interdependence and the internationalization of production, and that workers should be able to take such action, provided that the initial strike they are supporting is itself lawful (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 125).

In light of the foregoing, the Committee once again urges the Government to take the necessary measures to, in the near future, amend the provisions in question of Act No. 2001-09 on the exercise of the right to strike, as amended by Act No. 2018-34, and to ensure that they give full effect to the provisions of the Convention with regard to the above.