Interim Report - Report No 131, 1972

Case No 683 (Ecuador) - Complaint date: 28-SEP-71 - Closed

1. 176. The complaint of the Latin American Federation of Christian Trade Unions is contained in a communication dated 28 September 1971 addressed direct to the ILO. This complaint was supported by the World Confederation of Labour in a communication dated 8 October 1971. The WCL addressed a further complaint dated 8 October 1971 to the United Nations, which was transmitted to the ILO according to the established procedure. The complaints were communicated to the Government, which sent its observations thereon in three communications dated 9 November and 28 December 1971 and 7 February 1972.
2. 177. Ecuador has ratified both the Freedom of 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. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 178. In its communication dated 28 September 1971 the Latin American Federation of Christian Trade Unions (CLASC) states that on 23 July 1971 the United Workers' Front was formed, being made up of the two main national workers' Confederations, the Ecuadorian Confederation of Christian Workers (CEDOC) and the Confederation of Workers of Ecuador (CTE), plus the following national trade union organisations: the Ecuadorian Confederation of Employees in Semi-State Bodies and Banks (CESBANDOR), the Veterans' Association and the Federation of Workers in the Electrical Industry of Ecuador (FEDELEC).
2. 179. This was, state the complainants, the logical outcome of the maturity of the trade union movement, which realises that its strength lies in the unshakable unity of the workers in facing the critical situation resulting from the lack of national development planning, the rise in the cost of living (by more than 50 per cent), monetary devaluation, and the lack of the most elementary trade union freedoms.
3. 180. The complainants add that the United Workers' Front adopted a 17-point Programme of Action summarising the aspirations of the Ecuadorian workers. Contrary to what the Government had alleged, state the complainants, this programme-of which a copy is supplied by the complainants-was in no way political.
4. 181. The United Workers' Front, being faced with the Government's refusal to meet the demands of the workers, declared a 48-hour national strike, to take place on 28 and 29 July 1971. The Government's reaction to this national strike, the complainants allege, was an organised and merciless persecution of the trade union leaders, more than 300 of whom were imprisoned on the night of 27 July 1971. According to the complainants, searches were also made of the homes of trade union leaders and of the premises in which the trade union organisations operate.
5. 182. On 28 July, continue the complainants, the President of Ecuador called a press conference at which he stated, inter alia: " I wish those individuals (trade union leaders) who are the ringleaders behind the disturbances that are disrupting the country every day to know that if the strike continues I shall make them feel the consequences in a way they will regret all their lives. Let them not come to me then for mercy." Previously, on 27 July, the President had issued Executive Decree No. 1079-A whereby employers were empowered to dismiss all workers who took part in the national strike. According to the complainants, in Quito alone, the capital of Ecuador, there were 211 dismissals on 28 July, while it is estimated that the figure for the whole country exceeded 10,000.
6. 183. The complainants add that on 29 July the President issued Executive Decree No. 1106, dissolving the National Union of Ecuadorian Social Security Workers, which, under Ministerial Order No. 11541, had enjoyed legal status since 10 July 1968, and ordered the dismissal of 42 workers in the said institution for the sole offence of having followed the strike order given by the United Workers' Front.
7. 184. The further allegation is made by the complainants that, on 30 July, by means of an Executive Decree, the Government set up a Control Department (at presidential level) to supervise all broadcasting and television stations, which were ordered to refrain from giving any information connected with the national strike or with the activities of the United Workers' Front. Various broadcasting stations were closed down, including Radio Quito, which has one of the biggest audiences in the country.
8. 185. The complainants also alleged that on 27 July the Government, using the army, put a violent end to the Seventh Latin American Social Security Conference, in which more than 900 foreign delegates from 24 countries were taking part. According to the complainants, the only reason given was that in the said Congress a motion of solidarity and support for the strike had been proposed.
9. 186. In conclusion, the complainants state that, since 27 July 1971, warrants have been issued by the Government for the arrest of all the leaders of the United Workers' Front, who are working clandestinely. Decree No. 1079-A has not been repealed and employers are still taking advantage of its provisions to dismiss workers on the pretext that they are " planning a subversive strike ". The complainants add that the departments of the Ministry of Labour are forbidden by government orders to deal with any request from any trade union organisation which is affiliated to the United Workers' Front.
10. 187. In its communication dated 8 October 1971, the World Confederation of Labour states that it associates itself fully with the complaint submitted by the CLASC and calls upon the ILO to investigate the situation in Ecuador concerning the enjoyment of freedom of association and trade union rights generally. In its further communication addressed to the United Nations, the WCL formulates the same allegations set out in the preceding paragraphs.
11. 188. In its communications dated 9 November and 28 December 1971 and 28 January 1972, the Government contests the allegations and states that these are politically motivated attacks having no bearing upon matters of freedom of association. These attacks, states the Government, constitute an " intolerable interference in the internal politics of the country " and clearly reveal the spirit which moved the complainants to submit their allegations.
12. 189. Of the 17 points contained in the " Programme of Action " only two, states the Government, related to labour matters, the other 15 concerning university autonomy and other matters. The Government was under no obligation to yield to such demands, and did not do so. It was wrong to allege that the Government's refusal to meet these demands meant, as stated by the complainants, that the Government was shirking the obligations by which it was bound. Furthermore, it would not have been possible for any government to accede immediately to such demands of the workers as rises in wages and salaries, drastic land reforms, etc., without careful study of the possible consequences.
13. 190. The whole purpose of the national strike called for 28 and 29 July was, according to the Government, to bring about the downfall of the Government and, in fact, the vast majority of the workers had refused to participate in this strike. Moreover, continues the Government, the strike was illegal since it was not organised according to the procedure laid down in sections 436 et seq. of the Labour Code. The workers' demands were not submitted to a labour inspector, as provided for by law, but directly to the President of the Republic. The Government was accordingly obliged to take steps to end this unlawful action.
14. 191. In order to meet the emergency thus created, the Government issued Decree No. 1079-A of 27 July 1971, which authorised employers to request the labour authorities to grant them the right to terminate the employment of workers participating in the illegal strike. Once the emergency was over, however, Decree No. 1323 was issued on 31 August 1971 authorising the labour authorities to verify and review any action taken by employers under Decree No. 1079-A. It was not necessary, the Government states, to repeal formally Decree No. 1079-A since it was enforceable only for the duration of the strike. The Decree's exceptional character did not give rise to any change in the Labour Code and did not affect the principles of freedom of association and the right to strike, which are recognised so far as they remain within the framework of the law. The total number of dismissals for the country as a whole was 254, 60 per cent of whom returned to work, while a few of the remainder received compensation for wrongful dismissal.
15. 192. As regards the National Union of Ecuadorian Social Security Workers, which, according to the Government, was one of the unions most actively concerned in the strike, the Government explains that this organisation forfeited its legal status by having neither confined itself to activities in pursuit of its stated aims nor respected the law of the land. The Government was accordingly obliged to decree its dissolution. The Government adds that, as a conciliatory gesture, it ordered the reinstatement of all the social security workers who had been dismissed. In this connection, the Government transmits a press cutting indicating the satisfaction expressed by these employees for this action to the President of the Republic and to the Minister of Social Welfare and Labour. The Government states that the National Association of Ecuadorian Social Security Workers, which confined itself to its proper objectives, encountered no difficulties and continued to function normally.
16. 193. The supervision of radio and television stations, states the Government, was essential because of the political emergency, and had nothing to do with freedom of association.
17. 194. With regard to the closing of the Seventh Latin American Social Security Conference, the Government indicates that this measure was taken because of interference in matters of internal national policy in which aliens enjoying the hospitality of the Republic are not permitted to indulge under the terms of the Constitution and the law.
18. 195. The Government states in addition that the leaders of the United Workers' Front are received at the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare for the settlement of trade disputes and other problems affecting the workers and, in fact, have preferential treatment in the daily negotiations on the many problems connected with collective labour disputes. What is more, states the Government, the leaders of the Confederation of Workers in Ecuador (CTE) and the Ecuadorian Confederation of Christian Workers (CEDOC) had recently, and publicly, expressed their support for the Minister of Labour, who had been attacked by certain employers. The leaders of these organisations, as well as of the Ecuadorian Confederation of Free Trade Unions (CEOSL) had met in the office of the Minister of Labour and had been consulted on the form to be given to the Code of Labour Procedure and on the way in which trade unions are to participate in the running of the Ecuadorian Vocational Training Service (SECAP). These consultations were held in a most friendly atmosphere. Consequently, adds the Government, no trade union leaders in the country had to carry out their activities clandestinely and, on the contrary, they could rely on the assistance of the authorities. It is therefore inconceivable that warrants are outstanding for the arrest of these trade union leaders. Any warrants issued were effective only during the emergency.
19. 196. Relations between the Government and workers' organisations, the Government concludes, are at present harmonious, and the principles of freedom of association continue, as in the past, to be observed.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 197. The Committee has always taken the view that political matters not involving the exercise of freedom of association are outside its competence. In this connection, the Committee refers, in particular, to the Programme of Action adopted by the United Workers' Front, most of which, in the view of the Committee, is either political in character or does not relate to labour matters. The Committee observes that the Programme of Action, inter alia, calls for the installation of a popular and democratic government and for reforms in the fields of defence, economic, social and educational matters, and in administration and public services. As a result of the Government's refusal to meet the demands called for in the said programme, the United Workers' Front organised a 48-hour national strike.
2. 198. In the circumstances, the Committee feels bound to point out that it has always held in the past that the prohibition of strikes by reason of their non-occupational character, or where they have been designed to coerce a government with respect to a political matter or where the strike was directed against a government's policy and was not in furtherance of a trade dispute, does not constitute an infringement of freedom of association.
3. 199. With regard to the alleged arrest and imprisonment of more than 300 trade union leaders on the night of 27 July 1971, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to draw attention to the principle that trade unionists accused of political offences or criminal acts should be speedily brought to trial before an impartial and independent judicial authority and to request the Government to supply information as full and precise as possible concerning the measures which were taken as regards the trade union leaders who are alleged to have been imprisoned.
4. 200. With regard to the dissolution of the National Union of Ecuadorian Social Security Workers, the Committee, while it takes account of the circumstances in which this union was dissolved, wishes to emphasise the importance it attaches to the principle that employers' and workers' organisations should not be subject to suspension or dissolution by administrative authority, and that such measures, when taken during an emergency situation, should be accompanied by normal judicial safeguards, including the right of appeal to the courts against such dissolution or suspension. The Committee therefore recommends the Governing Body to draw the attention of the Government to this principle and to request the Government to indicate whether any judicial guarantees accompanied the dissolution of the union in question and, since the exceptional situation that had arisen now appears to be at an end, whether the union was reconstituted or under what conditions it may be reconstituted.
5. 201. The Committee has also noted the Government's statement that the restrictive measures taken regarding broadcasting stations, television and other means of communication bear no relation to labour matters. In this connection the Committee has, in previous cases, taken the view that the publication and distribution of news and information of general or special interest to trade unions and their members constitutes a legitimate trade union activity and the application of measures for the control of publication and information may involve a serious interference by the administrative authorities with such activity. In such cases the exercise of administrative authority should be subject to judicial review at the earliest possible moment. However, since the restrictions imposed by the Government appear to have been of a temporary nature and confined to the dissemination of information concerning the illegal strike, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to decide that this aspect of the case does not call for further examination.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 202. In these circumstances, and with regard to the case as a whole, the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to draw attention to the principle that the prohibition of strikes by reason of their non-occupational character, or where they have been designed to coerce a government with respect to a political matter, or where the strike was directed against a government's policy and was not in furtherance of a trade dispute, does not constitute an infringement of trade union rights;
   • (b) with regard to the restrictions imposed by the Government on the dissemination of information by the broadcasting stations, television and other means, to draw the attention of the Government to the principle set forth in paragraph 204 hereof, and to decide, for the reasons given in that paragraph, that this aspect of the case does not call for further examination;
   • (c) to draw attention to the principle set out in paragraph 199 above and to request the Government to supply information as full and precise as possible concerning the measures which were taken as regards the trade union leaders who are alleged to have been imprisoned;
   • (d) to draw the attention of the Government to the principle expressed in paragraph 200 above and to request the Government to indicate whether any judicial guarantees accompanied the dissolution of the National Union of Ecuadorian Social Security Workers and whether the union was reconstituted or under what conditions it may be reconstituted; and
   • (e) to take note of this interim report, it being understood that the Committee will supply a further report to the Governing Body when it has received the information requested from the Government in accordance with subparagraphs (c) and (d) above.