Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 359, March 2011

Case No 2700 (Guatemala) - Complaint date: 16-FEB-09 - Closed

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

1. 63. The Committee last examined this case at its March 2010 meeting, on which occasion it requested the Government to take the necessary measures without delay to ensure that the National Union of Statistics (INE) applied in full the collective agreement concluded with the Union of Statistics Workers of the National Institute of Statistics (STINE) on 9 August 2007, and to keep it informed in this regard [see 356th Report, paras 794–802].
2. 64. In its communication dated 24 June 2010, the complainant organization states that the Government lacks the will to enforce the collective agreement on working conditions, with the STINE consequently submitting a list of claims with the Labour Court. The Conciliation Court issued a decision recommending a 1,000 Guatemalan quetzal (GTQ) wage increase but the executive committee of the INE failed to comply with that decision.
3. 65. In its communications dated 5 May and 1 September 2010 the Government indicates that the Chamber of Constitutional Protection and Pre-trial Investigation of the Supreme Court of Justice issued a ruling concerning an amparo (appeal for protection of constitutional rights) which was challenged. The Constitutional Court is due to issue a ruling on this appeal. As for the declaration of a new collective socio-economic dispute, this is at the conciliation stage and two hearings have been held in this respect. During the first hearing, the judicial body recommended that the defendant institution should grant a wage increase and two additional bonuses. The second hearing could not be held because one of the delegates from the employer sector failed to provide identification documents. The Conciliation Court therefore ordered the defendant institution to present documents proving its economic capacity with the necessary supporting elements. This request was not met and, therefore, the judicial authority ordered the worker party to appear and to set out the requests it made to the employer party before the corresponding instances so that a decision could be issued regarding the case.
4. 66. The Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government and the complainant organization. The Committee observes that in the present case the judicial body recommended that the defendant should grant a wage increase and two additional bonuses and that the procedure is currently pending, awaiting a second hearing. The Committee deeply regrets the time which has passed since the signing of the collective agreement without that agreement being implemented and recalls once again that collective agreements must be binding for both parties. The Committee urges the Government to take measures to ensure that the ongoing procedures are concluded in the very near future and to keep it informed of any developments in this regard.