Definitive Report - Report No 226, June 1983

Case No 1138 (Peru) - Complaint date: 28-MAY-82 - Closed

48. The Federation of Municipal Workers of Peru presented its complaint in communications dated 28 May and 2 July 1982. The Government replied in a communication dated 14 February 1983.

1. 48. The Federation of Municipal Workers of Peru presented its complaint in communications dated 28 May and 2 July 1982. The Government replied in a communication dated 14 February 1983.
2. 49. Peru has ratified both the freedom o£ Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. The complainant's allegations

1. 50. The complainant alleges that Supreme Decrees Nos. 00382-PCM and 026-82-JUS on public servants' trade union organisations of 22 January and 14 April 1982, respectively, contain provisions that conflict with ILO Conventions on freedom of association and collective bargaining. The complainant encloses the text of the Decrees.

B. The Government's reply

1. 51. In its communication dated 14 February 1983, the Government refers specifically to the provisions of the impugned Decrees that refer to the number of public servants required to form a trade union and to the number of higher-level organisations required to form federations and confederations. According to the Government, the object of the requirement that membership represent at least 20 per cent of the public servants employed in each state department concerned and that each individual union have in any case at least 20 members is to avoid a multiplicity of unions. The Government adds that public servants working in a department with a total of more than 5 and less than 20 employees are represented by one delegate. The same criterion applies to the minimum requirement for the establishment of higher-level organisations (a minimum of 20 unions to form a federation and 10 federations to form a confederation); failure to limit the number of first-level organisations which can establish higher-level trade union organisations would lead to chaos and oblige the Government to deal with countless higher-level organisations.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 52. The Committee notes the complainant's allegation that Supreme Decrees Nos. 003-82-PCM and 026-82-JUS of 22 January and 14 April 1982 respecting public servants' trade union organisations contain provisions that conflict with ILO Conventions or freedom of association and collective bargaining. The Committee also notes the Government's reply.
2. 53. The Committee observes that, at its meeting in March 1983, the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations examined and commented upon the Decrees referred to. In particular, the Committee of Experts considered that some of the provisions of the Decrees are not in conformity with the Convention, namely: the prohibition of the re-election of members of the Executive Committee immediately after they have terminated their mandate (article 8 of Supreme Decree No. 026); the setting at an excessively high level of the minimum number of trade unions required to form federations and of federations required to form confederations (article 17 of Supreme Decree No. 003); the provision prohibiting trade unions of public servants from affiliating with federations covering other categories of workers (articles 19 and 19 of Supreme Decree No. 003). On these points the Committee concurs with the observations of the Committee of Experts and emphasise that these provisions are clearly in conflict with Articles 2, 3, 5 and 6 of Convention No. 87 and entail serious restrictions on freedom of association.
3. 54. The Committee also wishes to point out that to deny public servants working in departments with a total number of between 5 and 20 employees the right to form trade unions (article 3 of Supreme Decree No. 026), on the understanding that in such cases the workers are represented by a delegate, is likewise incompatible with the right of workers to establish organisations of their own choosing, embodied in Article 2 of the Convention, which applies to all public servants.
4. 55. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take steps to amend Supreme Decrees Nos. 003-82-PCM and 026-82-JUS in the light of the foregoing considerations in order to guarantee fully the trade union rights of public servants.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 56. In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to approve this report and, in particular, to request the Government to take steps to amend the provisions of Supreme Decrees Nos. 003-82-PCM and 026-82-JUS that are not in conformity with convention No. 87 in the light of the Committee's observations, in order to guarantee fully the trade union rights of public servants.