Interim Report - Report No 28, 1958

Case No 167 (Jordan) - Complaint date: 23-MAY-57 - Closed

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 127. In a communication dated 23 May 1957, addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and transmitted by him to the International Labour Organisation, the Pancyprian Federation of Labour protests against the alleged decision of the Government of Jordan to dissolve the Federation of Jordanian Workers' Trade Unions.
   • ANALYSIS OF THE REPLIES
2. 128. The Government of Jordan replied to the allegations by a communication dated 18 July 1957, stating that it did not dissolve the Federation of Jordanian Workers' Trade Unions but that temporary measures were taken to suspend the activities of certain registered trade unions on grounds of security.
3. 129. When it examined the case at its 18th Session (Geneva, October 1957), the Committee decided to request the Government to furnish further details as to the circumstances under which the activities of these unions were temporarily suspended and to indicate whether such suspension was ordered pursuant to law and whether the suspension was still in effect.
4. 130. In a communication dated 23 November 1957 the Government states that the activities of the unions in question were temporarily suspended by the Kingdom of Jordan as a safety measure because some of their members had interfered in politics contrary to the union by-laws. In October 1957 the Government reconsidered the suspensions and allowed the unions to resume their normal activities, except for the Amman Railways Employees' Union. In this latter case the members were deeply involved in politics and the Government states that it has been found necessary to abolish its registration in the interests of peace and order.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 131. It is alleged that the Government decided to dissolve the Federation of Jordanian Workers' Trade Unions. The Government denies that this Organisation was dissolved. With respect to this particular organisation the Committee will observe that it is alleged specifically that the Government had " decided to dissolve " it. Although the Director-General wrote to the complainants on 24 June 1957, in accordance with the procedure for the examination of allegations of infringements of trade union rights, inviting them to furnish further evidence in substantiation of the complaint, the complainants have not seen fit to furnish any such further evidence or, more specifically, evidence to show that any such alleged decision was ever put into effect. In view of this fact and of the categorical denial by the Government, the Committee considers that the complainants have not offered sufficient proof to substantiate this allegation and may therefore wish to recommend the Governing Body to decide that it does not call for further examination.
2. 132. In its first reply the Government stated that certain trade union organisations had been temporarily suspended. In reply to the request made by the Committee at its 18th Session (October 1957) for information as to the circumstances of these suspensions and as to whether they were ordered pursuant to law and were still in effect, the Government has indicated that the suspensions were ordered by the Kingdom of Jordan as a safety measure because " some members of these trade unions " interfered in politics, contrary to the union by-laws, but that, except in the case of the Amman Railway Employees' Union, the Government " reconsidered " the suspensions in October 1957 and allowed the unions to resume their normal activities.
3. 133. In a number of cases the Committee has emphasised the importance which it attaches to the generally accepted principle that workers' and employers' organisations should not be liable to be suspended or dissolved by administrative authority. It seems unusual to the Committee, where political activities are not permitted by a union's by-laws, to find that political activities by " some members " in breach of such by-laws are regarded as a ground for suspending the Organisation. At the same time, the Committee recalls that in the summer and autumn of 1957 an extremely tense political situation prevailed in Jordan and also notes that the suspensions appear to have lasted, except in the case mentioned below, only for a brief period. Having regard to all these considerations, and also to the fact that these matters were not the subject of allegations by the complainant but were revealed to the Committee by the Government itself, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to draw the attention of the Government to the importance which it attaches to the principle that workers' and employers' organisations should not be liable to be suspended or dissolved by administrative authority, but to decide, subject to this reservation, that no useful purpose would be served by pursuing this aspect of the matter further.
4. 134. Before formulating its conclusions concerning the deregistration of the Amman Railway Employees' Union, the Committee considers that it should request the Government to be good enough to furnish further information concerning the circumstances in which this organisation was deregistered and the procedural guarantees available, in the form of an appeal to the courts or otherwise, to an organisation which it is proposed to deregister.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 135. In all the circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to decide that the allegation that the Government decided to dissolve the Federation of Jordanian Workers' Trade Unions does not call for further examination ;
   • (b) to draw the attention of the Government to the importance which it attaches to the principle that workers' and employers' organisations should not be liable to be suspended or dissolved by administrative authority, but, subject to this reservation, to decide, for the reasons indicated in paragraph 133 above, that no useful purpose would be served by pursuing further the question of the temporary suspension of certain organisations in 1957 ;
   • (c) to take note of the present interim report with respect to the deregistration of the Amman Railway Employees' Union, it being understood that the Committee will report further thereon when it has received additional f information from the Government of Jordan.