Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 356, March 2010

Case No 2527 (Peru) - Complaint date: 28-SEP-06 - Closed

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

1. 121. At its March 2009 meeting, the Committee made the following recommendations in relation to alleged acts of anti-union discrimination by the San Martín Mining Company SA [see 353rd Report, paras 215–219]:
   • – The Committee takes note of the lower court rulings in favour of the trade union officials César Augusto Elías García and José Arenaza Lander (who had been dismissed), and of the fact that the company has lodged appeals. The Committee recalls that this case was presented in September 2006, and emphasizes that an excessive delay in the administration of justice is tantamount to a denial of justice. The Committee trusts that the appeals now under way will be concluded within a short time, and requests the Government to communicate the results of those proceedings.
   • – The Committee regrets that the Government has not indicated whether since September 2006 the trade union leader Armando Enrique Bustamante has been hired regularly by the company, and once again requests it to provide this information.
   • – Lastly, the Committee requests the Government without delay to send its observations on the allegations contained in the CATP’s communication dated 3 March 2008.
2. 122. In its communication dated 3 March 2008, the Autonomous Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CATP) alleged that the General Secretary, the Press and Propaganda Secretary and the Legal Affairs Secretary of the Trade Union of Workers of the San Martín Mining Company SA (César Augusto Elías García, Armando Bustamante and José Arenaza Lander) were evicted from their accommodation on 20 August 2006 by order of the Human Resources General Manager of the San Martín Mining Company SA, who stated that they no longer belonged to the company. Moreover, according to the CATP, the trade union officials had received threats of assault and even death from hired thugs with direct links to company managers [see 353rd Report, para. 212].
3. 123. In its communication of 18 June 2009, the CATP explains that the acts of violence consisted of Mr César Augusto Elías García being beaten with sticks and blunt instruments by a number of workers who were wearing the uniforms of the Techint SAC company (where César Augusto Elías García worked temporarily following his dismissal). The police did nothing to help him; on the contrary, he was beaten up again by other persons, and shots were even fired.
4. 124. In another communication dated 26 October 2009, the CATP alleges that the judicial authority ordered the provisional reinstatement of union official Mr César Augusto Elías García at the San Martín Mining Company SA, but in the end the reinstatement was not effected in the absence of the necessary legal formalities. In its communication dated 15 January 2010, the CATP denounces the Supreme Court of Justice’s ruling on 11 January 2010, revoking the preceding judicial decisions that had ordered the provisional reinstatement of this union official.
5. 125. In its communication dated 9 November 2009, the Government states that Mr Armando Enrique Bustamante was not a union official; he worked at the company from 12 April to 31 October 2006 and is now no longer employed there, his social benefits having been finally settled and paid out that year (2009).
6. 126. The Committee notes the Government’s information. The Committee again notes with regret the delay in the proceedings relating to the dismissal of the union official Mr José Arenaza Lander as a result of the appeals against the judicial orders for reinstatement, and expresses the hope that a ruling will be issued in the very near future. The Committee requests the Government to send its observations on the most recent communication of the complainant organization relating to the Supreme Court of Justice’s ruling on 11 January 2010, which resulted in the revocation of preceding judicial decisions that had ordered reinstatement, and to indicate why the judicial order for the provisional reinstatement of Mr César Augusto Elías García had not been complied with. The Committee also requests the Government to reply to the new allegations from the CATP dated 18 July 2009 concerning acts of violence against union official Mr César Augusto Elías García and indicate the outcome of the criminal complaint lodged by this official against the alleged assaults, as described in the attachments to the present complaint.