Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 384, March 2018

Case No 2915 (Peru) - Complaint date: 11-NOV-11 - Closed

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

1. 40. The Committee examined this case for the final time at its March 2014 meeting [see 371st Report, March 2014, paras 121–124]. On that occasion, the Committee requested the Government to indicate whether the trade union members who worked at San Marcos Higher National University (UNMSM) and whose contracts were not renewed had filed administrative appeals or appeals with the judicial authority on trade union grounds.
2. 41. In its communication of 5 June 2014, the complainant organization indicates that: (i) the non-renewal of contracts severely violates freedom of association, as several trade union officials have been dismissed under that pretext; (ii) in June and December 2012, the UNMSM also dismissed 13 other workers, whose names had not been identified in the original complaint; (iii) workers employed under an administrative service contract do not have the right to receive compensation for length of service and have been excluded from the right to an education allowance; (iv) although the UNMSM did grant union leave to the executive board of the National University Workers’ Union (SITRAUSM) between 2011 and August 2013, the executive board elected in August 2013 has not been granted union leave, while the leaders of the other three trade unions operating in the University have been granted such leave; and (v) the two lists of claims (2012 and 2013) are still being processed by the Ministry.
3. 42. In its communications of 7 and 22 August 2014, the Government indicates that, as it had informed the UNMSM, the trade union members whose contracts had not been renewed were employed under administrative service contracts. They were dismissed because their contracts had expired, and they had not filed any administrative appeal relating to the non-renewal of their contracts. In addition, the Government indicates that, while a reinstatement order relating to Mr Daniel Jorge Trujillo Huamaní (one of the trade union members whose contract was not renewed) has been handed down, it has not been implemented because Mr Trujillo Huamaní has not presented himself at the University, which has been brought to the attention of the judge who heard the case. With regard to collective bargaining, the Government indicates that the list of claims for the period 2012–13 submitted by SITRAUSM is still with the Ministry of Labour in an arbitration process, as SITRAUSM opted for voluntary arbitration to process the list of claims and a president for the arbitration tribunal remains to be nominated by the parties.
4. 43. In its communication of 16 September 2014, the Government informs that: (i) the former UNMSM workers (who the complainant organization alleges were dismissed in June and December 2012) were employed under administrative service contracts and are protected from arbitrary dismissal as they were still in an employment relationship until their contracts expired; (ii) after union leave was granted to the leaders of SITRAUSM, it became clear that the membership of SITRAUSM had been misrepresented, as the leaders had indicated that they represented private-sector workers, whereas in reality they were employed under an administrative service contract, which led to an incorrect registration of the trade union. For that reason, the general secretary and the secretary of SITRAUSM were convicted by Lima Criminal Court No. 42 for lack of veracity in an administrative act to the detriment of the Ministry of Labour; and (iii) pursuant to that sentence, the UNMSM withdrew the union leave that had been granted and requested the Ministry of Labour to regularize the registration of SITRAUSM, which had generated irregularities and delays in the collective bargaining process.
5. 44. The Committee takes due note of the information communicated by the complainant organization and the Government. With regard to the trade union members whose contracts were not renewed by the UNMSM, the Committee takes note of the fact that, according to the Government, no administrative appeal has been filed and that while a reinstatement order relating to Mr Trujillo Huamaní has been handed down, it has not been implemented because Mr Trujillo Huamaní has not presented himself at the University, which has been brought to the attention of the judge who heard the case.
6. 45. With regard to the indication from the complainant organization that, in the months of June and December 2012, the UNMSM dismissed 13 other workers, whose names had not been identified in the original complaint, the Committee takes note of the Government’s indication that they were employed under administrative service contracts and that their employment relationship was maintained until their contracts expired. Furthermore, the Committee observes that the complainant organization does not allege that the workers were members of SITRAUSM or that their contracts had not been renewed as a result of their trade union activities.
7. 46. With regard to the granting of union leave and the negotiation of the lists of claims, the Committee observes that the most recent information provided in this regard by the complainant organization and the Government was submitted in 2014. In addition, the Committee observes that, according to the Government, both matters have been linked to irregularities relating to the inclusion of SITRAUSM in the register. In the light of the foregoing, trusting in the fact that the registration of SITRAUSM has been regularized and that it has therefore been granted union leave, and that the processing of the claims has restarted, the Committee will not continue its examination of the case.