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Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body
Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body
- 165. The Committee last examined this case at its November 2005 meeting [see 338th Report, paras. 1175-1186], at which it formulated the following recommendations:
- (a) As regards the dismissal in August 1999 of 25 union officials of the Association of Employees of the Ministry of Youth, Women, Children and the Family, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that all the union officials in question are reinstated in their posts, and to keep it informed of developments and of any agreements reached by the bipartite commission.
- (b) As regards the payment of wage arrears of the union officials in question, the Committee hopes that this issue will be resolved without delay in the framework of the negotiations that are taking place in the bipartite commission.
- (c) As regards the dismissal on 20 January 2004 of Mr. Pedro Alain, a member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Public Servants of the Ministry of Education, the Committee requests the Government promptly to conduct an investigation and, if the dismissal is found to have been antiunion in nature, to reinstate Mr. Alain without delay. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of developments in this regard.
- 166. In a communication dated 29 April 2006, the National Federation of Associations and Organizations of Public Servants (FENASEP) states that the present Government or, failing that, the authorities of the 15 institutions involved, have ignored the Committee’s recommendations concerning the reinstatement and payment of the wage arrears of the officials of the associations who were dismissed without cause by the previous administration, merely for belonging to a different political party, in violation of their immunity as public sector union officials. To date, there has been no recognition of their entitlement to the wages unpaid since their dismissal, and they have been unable to obtain employment in any state institution. FENASEP adds that, in January 2006, the Ministry of Labour and Employment Development sent letters to the different authorities of the institutions concerned, saying that the officials should be once again “considered for a post within the institution” in question, but the authorities of these institutions have ignored this request. In this regard, the Ministry of Labour should have set an example and reinstated three officials, but this has not been done either.
- 167. In a communication of 12 September 2006, the Government states that, through the Ministry’s efforts and in order to try to give effect to the Committee’s recommendations in this case, the Bipartite Committee consisting of FENASEP and MITRADEL has continued to meet to seek appropriate means of reinstating, as far as possible, the officials of the Association of Employees of the Ministry of Youth, Women, Children and the Family (now renamed the “Ministry of Social Development – MIDES”) dismissed by the previous administration. As a result of these efforts, the Government has recently received information from MIDES, in a note of 7 August 2006, indicating that Ms. Melissa Fergusson is in the process of being reinstated in that Ministry, pending final verifications in the Ministry of the Economy and Finance. As regards the rest of the members of the Association, the Government points out that MIDES is taking appropriate steps to reinstate, as far as possible, the dismissed officials referred to in this case.
- 168. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government and the additional information sent by FENASEP. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government: (1) to continue taking the necessary measures to ensure that all the trade union officials in question are reinstated; and (2) to send its observations concerning the dismissal of the trade union official, Mr. Pedro Alain, stating in particular whether the investigation requested by the Committee at its November 2005 meeting has been initiated.
