Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 387, October 2018

Case No 3212 (Cameroon) - Complaint date: 05-APR-16 - 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: Anti-union interference by a public service concession holder; non-remittance of trade union dues deducted at source; and lack of mechanisms to ensure the impartiality of workers’ representative elections

1. 141. The Committee examined this case, brought by the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Cameroon (CSIC), at its October–November 2017 meeting, and on that occasion presented an interim report to the Governing Body at its 331st Session [see 383rd Report, approved by the Governing Body at its 331st Session (October–November 2017), paras 119–134].
2. 142. Information was sent by the Government in a letter dated 18 October 2017, received in Geneva on 3 November 2017.
3. 143. Cameroon 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), and the Workers’ Representatives Convention, 1971 (No. 135).

A. Previous examination of the case

1. 144. In its previous examination of the case in October 2017, the Committee made the following recommendations [see 383rd Report, para. 134]:
   • (a) The Committee regrets that the Government has failed to reply to the allegations, despite the fact that it has been invited to do so on several occasions, including by means of an urgent appeal, and asks it to reply promptly.
   • (b) The Committee requests the Government to ensure that neither the company’s management nor the public authorities intervene in union elections and prevent certain professional trade unions from being excluded while other workers’ organizations receive favourable treatment.
   • (c) The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the current status of the SNEE, and, in particular, to indicate whether the matter of the deduction of its members’ contributions has been resolved with the company and whether the union is able to conduct its activities without interference. If not, the Committee asks the Government to take the necessary measures vis-à-vis the company to remedy the situation without delay.
   • (d) The Committee requests the Government to provide information on all the procedures available for resolution of electoral disputes.
   • (e) The Committee requests the Government to solicit information from the employers’ organizations concerned, so as to have at its disposal their version of events as well as the views of the enterprise concerned on the pending issues.

B. The Government’s reply

1. 145. In its communication received on 3 November 2017, the Government states that there are no grounds for mentioning discrimination during the 2016 trade union elections by the company ENEO SA (hereinafter “the company”), and that there is every indication that the reason the National Independent Electricity Trade Union (SNI-Energie) did not put forward any candidates was that it does not have any members in the company. The Government notes that it was, however, the responsibility of the union to lodge an election dispute appeal before the competent judicial authorities, in accordance with article 126-1 of the Labour Code, which provides that “challenges in respect of the electorate, the eligibility of workers’ representatives and the legitimacy of the electoral process come under the jurisdiction of the locally competent court of first instance, ruling as a matter of urgency”. Furthermore, the Government states that it held consultations with the social partners following the 2016 trade union elections, with a view to improving the legal framework governing the organization of elections of workers’ representatives and to consolidating the electoral process.
2. 146. Concerning the issue of the non-remittance of trade union dues by the company, the Government indicates that it is a precautionary measure resulting from the dual leadership situation affecting the National Union of Electric Energy (SNEE), pending a final legal decision on this matter.

C. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 147. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its communication dated 18 October 2017, but notes with regret that the information sent responds only partly to the CSIC’s allegations and to the Committee’s recommendations.
2. 148. As regards the allegations of interference by the company in the 2014 and 2016 staff representative elections, which allegedly had the effect of preventing SNI-Energie and the SNEE from putting forward candidates for staff representative elections, the Committee observes that the Government’s reply is confined to indicating that legislation makes provision for the possibility of recourse to legal action in respect of challenges in this regard and that the complainant does not appear to have had recourse to such legal action.
3. 149. With regard to the legislation available for the resolution of electoral disputes, which, according to the CSIC, does not offer sufficient guarantees to ensure the impartiality of staff representative elections, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government that, under article 126-1 of the Labour Code, challenges in respect of the electorate, the eligibility of workers’ representatives and the legitimacy of the electoral process come under the jurisdiction of the locally competent court of first instance, ruling as a matter of urgency. The Committee requests the complainant organization to provide further information as to why it considers that the legal procedures set out in the legislation in force do not offer adequate guarantees and why the CISC did not contest the results of the trade union elections of 2014 and 2016 before the courts.
4. 150. Concerning the issue of the non-remittance of trade union dues by the company, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, it is a precautionary measure resulting from the dual leadership situation affecting the SNEE, pending a final legal decision on this matter. Voicing its concern about the time that has elapsed since this measure was adopted, the Committee requests the Government and the complainant organization to provide information on developments in the situation at the SNEE and to take the necessary measures vis-à-vis the company to remedy without delay the issue of the deduction of the contributions of SNEE members. The Committee once again requests the Government to solicit information from the employers’ organizations concerned, so as to have at its disposal their version of events as well as the views of the enterprise concerned on the pending issues.

The Committee’s recommendations

1. 151. In the light of its foregoing conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) The Committee requests the complainant organization to provide further information as to why it considers that the legal procedures set out in the legislation in force do not offer adequate guarantees and why it did not contest the results of the trade union elections of 2014 and 2016 before the courts.
   • (b) The Committee requests the Government and the complainant organization to provide information on developments in the situation at the SNEE and to take the necessary measures vis-à-vis the company to remedy without delay the issue of the deduction of the contributions of SNEE members.
   • (c) The Committee once again requests the Government to solicit information from the employers’ organizations concerned, so as to have at its disposal their version of events as well as the views of the enterprise concerned on the pending issues.