Interim Report - Report No 343, November 2006

Case No 2361 (Guatemala) - Complaint date: 12-MAY-04 - Closed

Allegations: The mayor of Chinautla refused to negotiate a collective agreement and dismissed 14 union members and two union leaders; the Government is promoting a new civil service law containing provisions contrary to ratified ILO Conventions on freedom of association; departments in the Ministry of Education are being reorganized with the possible elimination of posts with the aim of destroying the union that operates there; the Directorate General for Migration refused to negotiate the collective agreement and to reinstate union leader Mr. Pablo Cush with payment of lost wages and is taking measures to dismiss union leader Mr. Jaime Reyes Gonda without court authorization; the Directorate General for Migration refused to set up the mixed (joint) committee as set out in the collective agreement; 16 members of the Union of Workers of the “José de Pineda Ibarra” National Centre for Textbooks and Educational Material were

dismissed as a result of a reorganization ordered by the Ministry of Education and action is being taken to dismiss all members of the union’s executive committee

1. 824. The Committee last examined this case at its meeting in November 2005 [see 338th Report, paras. 943 to 958] and presented an interim report to the Governing Body.
2. 825. The Trade Union Federation of Public Employees (FENASTEG) sent additional information in a communication dated 3 November 2005. The Government sent partial observations in communications dated 5 January and 28 June 2006.
3. 826. Guatemala has ratified 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. Previous examination of the case

1. 827. At its meeting in November 2005, the Committee made the following recommendations:
2. (a) Noting the Government’s statement that as a result of the socio-economic dispute before the judicial authority, a conciliation and arbitration court has been set up, the Committee requests the Government to inform it of any decisions that will be handed down by that court regarding the 14 dismissed union members (who, according to the Government, are still working at the moment) and union leader Marlon Vinicio Avalos. In addition, noting that the Government has not replied to the allegation that the mayor of Chinautla refused to negotiate the collective agreement, the Committee requests the Government to take measures to promote collective bargaining in Chinautla Town Hall.
3. (b) The Committee requests the Government to ensure that the civil service bill that emerges from the consultation process is fully compatible with Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 and to send a copy of the bill when the process is complete, and reminds the Government that the ILO is ready to provide assistance to ensure the compatibility of the bill with the aforementioned Conventions.
4. (c) Lastly, the Committee notes with regret that the Government has not replied to the following allegations: departments in the Ministry of Education are being reorganized with the possible elimination of posts with the aim of destroying the union that operates there; the Directorate General for Migration refused to negotiate the collective agreement and to reinstate union leader Mr. Pablo Cush with payment of lost wages, and is taking measures to dismiss union leader Mr. Jaime Reyes Gonda without court authorization; the Directorate General for Migration refused to set up the mixed (joint) committee as set out in the collective agreement. The Committee requests the Government to reply to these allegations without delay. As regards the allegations concerning the dismissal of 16 members of the Union of Workers of the “José de Pineda Ibarra” National Centre for Textbooks and Educational Material as a result of an illegal reorganization, without consultation, ordered by the Ministry of Education, and the action taken to dismiss all members of the union’s executive committee, the Committee requests the complainant organization (FENASTEG) to transmit the names of the workers concerned, and to indicate the court dealing with this issue.
5. B. Additional information from the complainant
6. 828. In its communication of 3 November 2005, the Trade Union Federation of Public Employees (FENASTEG) refers to the dismissal of 16 members of the Union of Workers of the “José de Pineda Ibarra” National Centre for Textbooks and Educational Material (CENALTEX), part of the Guatemalan Ministry of Education. In this regard, it expresses its disappointment at the negative stance put across by the Minister for Education to the Alternative Dispute Resolution Office (attached to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security), since despite being sent four notifications on different dates, inviting it to participate in seeking a conciliatory solution and thereby resolve the issue of the dismissal of the 16 workers, it refused to attend. This shows that the organs established for the purposes of alternative resolution of labour questions and vaunted by the Government in international forums are unfortunately not operational. Lastly, FENASTEG supplies the names of the dismissed members of the abovementioned trade union: (1) Amabilia Valdez Guzmán de Morales, (2) Sandra Verónica Vázquez de González, (3) Miriam Amparo Hernández Cuté, (4) Alba Elizabeth Bátrez de Méndez, (5) Consuelo Lila Paiz Salazar de López, (6) Aurora Roca Sinay, (7) Patricia del Rosario García Castellanos, (8) Loida Judith Pacheco Quintana, (9) Mario Raúl Mancilla Guerra, (10) Adolfo Eduardo Merida Higueros, (11) Enmanuel de Jesús Hernández Lima, (12) Feliciano Rivera Polanco, (13) César Enrique Alvarado Tello, (14) Elido Amado Hernández Ortiz, (15) Alberto Ruiz and (16) Juan Carlos García Castellanos.
7. C. The Government’s reply
8. 829. In its communication of 5 January 2006, the Government states that it has received the additional information from FENASTEG concerning the dismissals of members of the Union of Workers of the National Centre for Textbooks and Educational Material, but that before initiating an in-depth investigation, it requires the names of the dismissed workers and indication of which court is dealing with the case.
9. 830. In its communication of 28 June 2006, the Government states, with respect to the allegations concerning the process of reorganization at the Ministry of Education with the aim of destroying the union that operates there, that the Second Court of Labour and Social Provision was requested to provide information on the collective dispute referred to in the complaint presented. The judicial authority reported that the action in question was brought by the members of the Executive Body of the Trade Union of Workers of the Department of Education of Guatemala (SITRADDEG) against the State of Guatemala, as representative of the Ministry of Education.

D. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 831. The Committee recalls that the present case concerns allegations of anti-union dismissals and violations of the right to collective bargaining, as well as the promotion by the Government of a civil service bill containing provisions that may be contrary to ILO Conventions ratified by Guatemala. Specifically, at its meeting in November 2005, the Committee, observing the Government’s statement that a conciliation and arbitration court had been set up as a result of the socio-economic dispute in Chinautla Town Hall brought before the judicial authority, requested the Government to inform it of any decisions handed down by that court regarding the 14 dismissed union members (who, according to the Government, were still working at that time) and union leader Marlon Vinicio Avalos. In addition, noting that the Government had not replied to the allegation that the mayor of Chinautla refused to negotiate the collective agreement, the Committee requested the Government to take measures to promote collective bargaining in Chinautla Town Hall. The Committee also requested the Government to ensure that the civil service bill that emerged from the consultation process would be fully compatible with Conventions Nos. 87 and 98, and reminded the Government that it could avail itself of ILO technical assistance. The Committee also requested the Government to send a copy of the bill when the process was complete, and to reply without delay to the following allegations: (1) departments in the Ministry of Education are being reorganized with the possible elimination of posts with the aim of destroying the union that operates there; (2) the Directorate General for Migration refused to negotiate the collective agreement and to reinstate union leader Mr. Pablo Cush with payment of lost wages and is taking measures to dismiss union leader Mr. Jaime Reyes Gonda without court authorization; and (3) the Directorate General for Migration refused to set up the mixed (joint) committee as set out in the collective agreement. The Committee requested the complainant organization (FENASTEG) to transmit the names of the 16 members of the Union of Workers of the “José de Pineda Ibarra” National Centre for Textbooks and Educational Material who had been dismissed as a result of an allegedly illegal reorganization, without consultation, ordered by the Ministry of Education (FENASTEG communicated the full names of the workers concerned, which are given at the beginning of this case and which were transmitted to the Government), and to indicate the court dealing with the actions to dismiss all members of the union’s executive committee.
2. 832. As regards the alleged process of reorganization of the departments of the Ministry of Education with the possible elimination of posts with the aim of destroying the union that operates there, the Committee notes the information from the Government to the effect that the executive committee of the Trade Union of Workers of the Department of Education of Guatemala (SITRADDEG) has brought an action before the judicial authority against the State of Guatemala. In this regard, the Committee expects that the judicial authority will soon issue a ruling, and requests the Government to keep it informed of the final outcome of the proceedings.
3. 833. As regards the allegations concerning the dismissal of 16 members of the Union of Workers of the “José de Pineda Ibarra” National Centre for Textbooks and Educational Material as a result of an illegal reorganization, without consultation, ordered by the Ministry of Education, and the action taken to dismiss all members of the union’s executive committee, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that it requires the names of the dismissed workers and information on which court is hearing the legal case before being able to initiate an in-depth investigation. In this regard, noting that FENASTEG communicated the full names of the workers concerned, which were provided in its communication of 3 November 2005 and which are given at the beginning of this case, and that this information was transmitted to the Government, the Committee requests the Government to send its observations concerning these allegations without delay. In addition, the Committee requests the complainant organization (FENASTEG) to indicate the court dealing with the actions to dismiss all members of the executive committee of the Union of Workers of the “José de Pineda Ibarra” National Centre for Textbooks and Educational Material.
4. 834. Lastly, as regards the other pending allegations, the Committee notes with deep regret that the Government has not communicated the further observations and information requested of it, reiterates its previous recommendations and urges the Government to undertake the above without delay.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 835. In the light of its foregoing interim conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) As regards the socio-economic dispute at the Chinautla Town Hall that is before the judicial authority, the Committee once again requests the Government to inform it of any decisions handed down by the conciliation and arbitration court regarding the 14 dismissed union members (who, according to the Government, were still working at that time) and union leader Marlon Vinicio Avalos.
   • (b) The Committee once again requests the Government to take measures to promote collective bargaining in Chinautla Town Hall and to supply information in this regard.
   • (c) The Committee once again requests the Government to ensure that the civil service bill that emerges from the consultation process is fully compatible with Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 and to send a copy of the bill so that the Committee can assess its compatibility with the principles of freedom of association.
   • (d) As regards the alleged process of reorganization of the departments of the Ministry of Education with the possible elimination of posts with the aim of destroying the union that operates there, the Committee notes the information from the Government to the effect that the executive committee of the Trade Union of Workers of the Department of Education of Guatemala (SITRADDEG) has brought an action before the judicial authority against the State of Guatemala, expects that the judicial authority will soon issue a ruling, and requests the Government to keep it informed of the final outcome of the proceedings.
   • (e) As regards the allegations concerning the dismissal of 16 members of the Union of Workers of the “José de Pineda Ibarra” National Centre for Textbooks and Educational Material as a result of an allegedly illegal reorganization, without consultation, ordered by the Ministry of Education, and the action taken to dismiss all members of the union’s executive committee, the Committee, noting that FENASTEG communicated the full names of the affected workers in its communication of 3 November 2005, which were transmitted to the Government and are given at the beginning of this case, requests the Government to send its observations concerning these allegations without delay.
   • (f) As regards the alleged action taken by the Ministry of Education to dismiss all members of the executive committee of the Union of Workers of the “José de Pineda Ibarra” National Centre for Textbooks and Educational Material, the Committee requests the complainant organization (FENASTEG) to indicate the court dealing with this action.
   • (g) The Committee, deeply regretting that since the start of this case, no observations have been communicated by the Government concerning the following allegations: (1) the Directorate General for Migration refused to negotiate the collective agreement and to reinstate union leader Mr. Pablo Cush with payment of lost wages and is taking measures to dismiss union leader Mr. Jaime Reyes Gonda without court authorization; and (2) the Directorate General for Migration refused to set up the mixed (joint) committee as set out in the collective agreement, urges the Government to reply without delay.