Definitive Report - Report No 77, 1964

Case No 366 (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) - Complaint date: 16-OCT-63 - Closed

1. 49. The original complaint is contained in a communication dated 16 October 1963 forwarded to the I.L.O by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Further communications in support of the complaint were addressed to the Office on 12 and 20 November 1963. These communications were forwarded to the Government of the United Kingdom, which furnished on 10 and 12 February 1964 the observations made on the complaints by the Government of British Guiana.
2. 50. The Government of the United Kingdom has ratified the Right of Association (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 (No. 11), the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), and has declared their provisions to be applicable, without modification, to British Guiana. The Government of the United Kingdom has also ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and has declared it applicable to British Guiana with modifications.

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 51. In the communication of 16 October 1963 Mr. Richard Ishmael, in his capacity as General President of the trade union known as the Man-Power Citizens' Association (M.P.C.A.), President of the British Guiana Trades Union Council (B.G.T.U.C.) and First Vice-President of the Caribbean Conference of Labour, alleges that the People's Progressive Party (P.P.P.) and all the government machinery of British Guiana has been directed towards forcing sugar workers to withdraw from the M.P.C.A by the use of threats. The Minister of Labour, Mr. Ranji Chandisingh, the Minister of Home Affairs, Mrs. Janet Jagan, and the President of the Senate, Mr. Ashton Chase, participated in this campaign. By a communication dated 12 November 1963 the M.P.C.A forwarded various documents in support of its complaint. They include sworn affidavits from workers who were intimidated a number of newspaper clippings, a copy of a letter addressed by the M.P.C.A to the B.G.T.U.C and a copy of a letter from the B.G.T.U.C to the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs mentioning the intimidation of M.P.C.A members. A copy of that letter was sent to the premier, Dr. C. B. Jagan. On 20 November the complainants forwarded certain additional information.
2. 52. From all the information supplied in the various communications from the complainants it would seem that in October 1963 the Guiana Agricultural Workers' Union (G.A.W.U.) launched a campaign to make sugar workers belonging to the M.P.C.A leave the latter organisation and join the former. It is alleged that ministers and members of the legislature belonging to the P.P.P participated in this campaign. The complainants give a list of such persons, which includes Messrs. Victor Downer, Macie Hamid and G. Robertson, members of the Legislative Assembly; Messrs. Hubert Thomas and Ashton Chase, members of the Senate; the Minister of Labour, Mr. Ranji Chandisingh ; and the Minister of Home Affairs, Mrs. Janet Jagan. According to statements made in the organ of the Guiana Agricultural Workers' Union the reason for this campaign was that the Union was trying to obtain recognition by the Sugar Producers' Association and maintained that a ballot should be taken among the workers to establish that it was the majority union. However, the Sugar Producers' Association rejected the request and asked the Union to open its books for inspection so that the number of members could be ascertained. Since the books did not justify its claim of majority support the Union decided to launch a campaign in order to prevail on the sugar workers to transfer to the Union.
3. 53. It would appear from the sworn affidavits sent in by the complainants that a number of workers were intimidated by activists of the P.P.P and of the Progressive Youth Organisation (P.Y.O.) into transferring to the Guiana Agricultural Workers' Union, and that the activists had threatened damage to the property and persons of the workers concerned. It is also stated that Senator Herbie Thomas, Miss Edith Jagan (who is in charge of the New Amsterdam office of the P.P.P.) and assemblyman Victor Downer participated in this intimidation. Another sworn affidavit, by the former Assistant Secretary of the Guiana Agricultural Workers' Union, states that in September 1963 he attended a conference of that organisation which was also attended by Senator Ashton Chase and by the Minister of Labour, Mr. Chandisingh. According to the affidavit, which was published in the official organ of the M.P.C.A, the Minister of Labour stated on that occasion that all P.P.P supporters should help to destroy the M.P.C.A because the continual agitation of that trade union organisation was detrimental to the Government's interests since the increases in wages and welfare benefits were reducing the tax receipts from the sugar industry. Such receipts were necessary to the Government, which would break down without them.
4. 54. The complainants state that as a consequence of the campaign 2,814 members withdrew from the M.P.C.A but that, a month later, 2,212 workers rejoined the organisation and signed an authorisation for the check-off of trade union dues by their employers. However, many workers asked that the existing system should be changed and that the deduction of union dues should not be mentioned on the pay envelopes, so that the terrorists who compelled them to produce these envelopes should be unable to discover whether the workers concerned were members of the M.P.C.A or not. In any case at least 70 representatives of the M.P.C.A have resigned and will not continue to sit on the joint committees on the various estates owing to the threats they have received. The complainants also state that all the broadsheets and pamphlets calling on the workers to withdraw from the M.P.C.A were printed by the New Guiana Company Ltd., which belongs to the P.P.P.
5. 55. In its reply of 10 February 1964 the British Government states that British Guiana is internally self-governing and that the matters which are the subject of these allegations are within the exclusive competence of the ministers of the British Guiana Government. In the note sent by the Government of British Guiana concerning the complaint contained in the communication of 15 October 1963 it is categorically denied that the Government or members of it participated in the campaign carried out by the Guiana Agricultural Workers' Union. The Commissioner of Labour specifically stated that the civil service, and more specifically the Labour Department, which deals with these questions, took no part whatsoever in this matter. In its communication the Government of British Guiana rejects as a complete fabrication the charge that certain ministers visited the districts in which the campaign was taking place with a view to, playing an active part in it. As regards the statements imputed to the Minister of Labour to the effect that the Government would facilitate the workers' efforts to destroy the M.P.C.A, the Government states that the Minister opened the last annual conference of the G.A.W.U and a conference of sugar workers sponsored by that organisation, but that he made no declaration corresponding to the complainants' accusation. The Government encloses a copy of the address delivered by the Minister of Labour on 9 September 1962 at a meeting sponsored by the G.A.W.U.
6. 56. The Government of British Guiana maintains that no violence was reported in connection with the campaign of the G.A.W.U. On the other hand it is known that officers of the M.P.C.A intimidated workers who wished to withdraw from the latter. For some time there has been dissatisfaction on the part of the workers with M.P.C.A activities and with its undemocratic practices. According to the Government the leadership is divorced from the rank and file, and the Government cites a number of examples in support of that contention. It also maintains that the workers are convinced that the leaders of the M.P.C.A have so entrenched themselves in office that it is impossible to bring about a change in the leadership of the Association. The Government considers that the campaign began in consequence of the situation described above.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 57. With regard to the charges relating to intimidation by the G.A.W.U the Government does not consider itself expected to reply. It states, however, that the greatest caution should be exercised in assessing the worth of sworn statements alleging intimidation and violence. As regards the statement that the New Guiana Company Ltd. belongs to the P.P.P, the Government states that this company is a public limited liability company in which hundreds of members of the public hold shares.
2. 58. The Committee now has before it a considerable amount of information which reveals a basic conflict of evidence as between the statements made by the complainants and the observations furnished by the Government of the United Kingdom. It would not be possible for the Committee to ascertain what is the true factual position on the basis of the information available to it. The Government's observations, moreover, are based on information supplied by the Government of British Guiana, and the Committee takes note of the statement by the Government of the United Kingdom that British Guiana is internally self-governing and that the matters which form the subject of the allegations in this case are within the exclusive competence of the Government of British Guiana. At the same time, the United Kingdom is still responsible for the international relations of British Guiana.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 59. In these circumstances, therefore, the Committee, having regard to the fact that the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), has been declared applicable to British Guiana subject only to a modification relating to the registration of organisations, which does not affect the questions at issue in the present case, recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to request the Government of the United Kingdom to draw the attention of the Government of British Guiana to the importance which the Governing Body attaches to the principles:
   • (i) that workers without distinction whatsoever should have the right to establish and, subject only to the rules of the organisation concerned, to join organisations of their own choosing without previous authorisation;
   • (ii) that workers' organisations should have the right to organise their administration and activities and to formulate their programmes, and that the public authorities should refrain from any interference which would restrict this right or impede the lawful exercise thereof ;
   • (b) to express the hope that, in accordance with the obligations assumed by virtue of Article 11 of the said Convention, all necessary and appropriate measures will be taken to ensure that workers in British Guiana may exercise freely the right to organise.
     • Geneva, 4 June 1964. (Signed) Roberto AGO, Chairman.