Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 323, November 2000

Case No 1937 (Zimbabwe) - Complaint date: 09-SEP-97 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 106. The Committee last examined this case at its meeting in March 2000 when it once again urged the Government to amend sections 98, 99, 100, 106 and 107 of the Labour Relations Act so as to ensure that compulsory arbitration may only be imposed with respect to essential services and in cases of acute national crisis. Furthermore, the Committee trusted that the final judgement in respect of the workers dismissed from Standard Chartered Bank would be rendered in the near future and that these workers would be promptly reinstated without loss of salary or benefits and requested the Government to transmit a copy of the Supreme Court judgement as soon as it was handed down [see 320th Report, paras. 93-96].
2. 107. In a communication dated 29 August 2000, the Government indicates that the Supreme Court heard the case concerning the workers dismissed from Standard Chartered Bank in July 2000, but that it has not yet rendered its decision. The Government states that it will abide by the ruling and that it will furnish a copy of the Supreme Court's judgement as soon as it is rendered.
3. 108. The Government transmitted the Supreme Court judgement in a communication dated 26 September. The judgement sets aside the Appeals Board and Labour Relations Tribunal judgement which had called for the reinstatement of the Standard Chartered Bank workers. While agreeing that the proceedings of the Disciplinary Committee which had dismissed the workers were fatally flawed, the Supreme Court ordered a new Disciplinary Committee to be properly constituted so as to determine the case on its merits, placing the dismissed workers in the position they were in prior to the initial hearing.
4. 109. The Committee notes with deep regret that the 211 workers dismissed from Standard Chartered Bank over three years ago for the exercise of legitimate trade union activity are still caught in an entangled and protracted legal struggle to obtain reinstatement. While noting that these workers are now obliged to await yet a further decision by a disciplinary committee, the Committee must recall that the information made available to it from the initial complaint and the Government's reply clearly indicates that these workers were dismissed for having gone on strike. The Committee must therefore recall that the dismissal of workers because of a legitimate strike constitutes discrimination in employment [see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, 4th edition, 1996, para. 704].
5. 110. Furthermore, an excessive delay in processing cases of anti-union discrimination, and in particular a lengthy delay in concluding proceedings concerning the reinstatement of the trade union leaders dismissed by the enterprise, constitute a denial of justice and therefore a denial of the trade union rights of the persons concerned [see Digest, op. cit., para. 749]. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that these workers are reinstated pending the conclusions of the Disciplinary Committee and trusts that the above principles will be borne in mind by the Disciplinary Committee so that all those workers who were dismissed for the exercise of legitimate trade union activity are fully reinstated in their jobs as soon as possible without loss of salary or benefits. It requests the Government to keep it informed in this regard.
6. 111. As concerns its other recommendation to amend the provisions of the Labour Relations Act which provide for compulsory arbitration, the Committee deeply regrets that the Government has still not supplied any information on the measures taken or envisaged in this regard. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to amend the relevant sections of the Labour Relations Act in the very near future and once again recalls that ILO technical assistance is available to facilitate a review and revision of the Act should the Government so desire. It requests the Government to keep it informed of any measures taken to amend the Labour Relations Act.