Interim Report - Report No 367, March 2013

Case No 2743 (Argentina) - Complaint date: 30-NOV-09 - Follow-up cases closed due to the absence of information from either the complainant or the Government in the last 18 months since the Committee examined the cases

Allegations: The complainant organization alleges acts of violence, intimidation and anti-union discrimination against workers belonging to the Association of State Workers (ATE) in the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC)

1. 153. The Committee last examined this case at its March 2012 meeting when it presented an interim report to the Governing Body [see 363rd Report, approved by the Governing Body at its 313th Session (March 2012), paras 262–278].
2. 154. The Government sent partial observations in a communication of 22 October 2012.
3. 155. Argentina has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), the Workers’ Representatives Convention, 1971 (No. 135), and the Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151).

A. Previous examination of the case

1. 156. In its previous examination of the case at its March 2012 meeting, the Committee made the following recommendations [see 363rd Report, para. 278]:
   • (a) With regard to the allegations relating to the intervention and violent repression by the Argentine federal police to prevent the installation of a protest stand at the INDEC entrance on 22 August 2007, the Committee expects to receive the information referred to by the Government.
   • (b) The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the final result of the court proceedings against the ATE delegate Mr Luciano Osvaldo Belforte.
   • (c) As regards the alleged dismissal of 13 workers from the CPI and EPH Department on 1 November 2007 for having participated in meetings and direct action organized by the trade union, the Committee requests the CTA to send without delay the names of the workers who were allegedly dismissed so as to enable the Government to send concrete information on these allegations.

B. The Government’s reply

1. 157. In its communication of 22 October 2012, the Government states that, in compliance with the Committee’s latest recommendation, it has repeatedly requested details from the Confederation of Argentine Workers (CTA) and the Ministry of Security but that they have not yet sent the relevant information. As a result, the Government has been unable to formulate its response to the complaints.

C. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 158. The Committee recalls that the allegations that were still pending in this case related to the intervention and violent repression by the federal police of Argentina aimed at preventing the installation of a protest stand outside the INDEC entrance on 22 August 2007; the court proceedings against the ATE delegate Mr Luciano Osvaldo Belforte; and the alleged dismissal of 13 workers from the Consumer Price Index and Continuous Household Survey Department, on 1 November 2007, for having participated in meetings and direct action organized by the trade union (on the latter point, the Committee requested the CTA to send the names of the workers who were allegedly dismissed without delay so as to enable the Government to send concrete information on the allegations.
2. 159. Regarding the alleged dismissal of 13 workers (whose names the Committee requested from the complainant) from the Consumer Price Index and Continuous Household Survey Department, on 1 November 2007, for having participated in meetings and direct action organized by the trade union, the Committee takes note of the Government's statement that it has repeatedly requested details from the CTA and the Ministry of Security, but that they have not yet sent the necessary information, and that the Government has therefore been unable to formulate its response to the complaints. The Committee, recalling the importance of the complainant’s communication of detailed information and specific facts in order to enable it to reach a determination in full knowledge of the facts, once again invites the CTA to send the information it has requested and informs it that, if it fails to do so, the Committee will not pursue its examination of this aspect of the complaints.
3. 160. Regarding the alleged intervention and violent repression by the federal police of Argentina aimed at preventing the installation of a protest stand outside the INDEC entrance, on 22 August 2007, the Committee regrets that the Government merely states that it has requested details from the Ministry of Security, which has not yet sent the relevant information. The Committee recalls that “workers should enjoy the right to peaceful demonstration to defend their occupational interests” and that “in cases in which the dispersal of public meetings by the police has involved loss of life or serious injury, the Committee has attached special importance to the circumstances being fully investigated immediately through an independent inquiry and to a regular legal procedure being followed to determine the justification for the action taken by the police and to determine responsibilities” [see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, fifth (revised) edition, 2006, paras 133 and 49]. The Committee again requests the Government to send its observations on the matter without delay.
4. 161. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to inform it of the outcome of the ongoing court proceedings against the ATE delegate Mr Luciano Osvaldo Belforte.

The Committee’s recommendations

1. 162. In the light of its foregoing interim conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) Regarding the alleged intervention and violent repression by the federal police of Argentina aimed at preventing the installation of a protest stand outside the INDEC entrance, on 22 August 2007, the Committee again requests the Government to send its observations on the matter without delay.
   • (b) The Committee requests the Government to inform it of the outcome of the ongoing court proceedings against the ATE delegate Mr Luciano Osvaldo Belforte.
   • (c) Regarding the alleged dismissal of 13 workers (whose names the Committee requested from the complainant) from the Consumer Price Index and Continuous Household Survey Department, on 1 November 2007, for having participated in meetings and direct action organized by the trade union, the Committee once again requests the CTA to send the names of the workers who were allegedly dismissed without delay so as to enable the Government to send concrete information on the allegations.