Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 392, October 2020

Case No 3035 (Guatemala) - Complaint date: 14-MAY-13 - Closed

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

1. 57. The Committee last examined at its October 2016 meeting [see 380th Report, paras 528–542] the present case concerning difficulties in the registration of the Union of Workers of the Voluntary Fire Brigade of Guatemala (SGTBCVBG), the dismissal of several of its founding members, and pressure aimed at making the other members leave the union. On that occasion, after noting with satisfaction the registration of the SGTBCVBG, the Committee requested the Government: (i) to ensure that the criminal complaints filed in connection with this case were settled without further delay; and (ii) to provide further information on the situation of Ms Queme Roma and to inform it without delay of the outcome of the legal challenge to the dismissal of Mr Luis Alberto Pérez Soberanis and Mr Adolfo Martín Enríquez Suchite. In addition, with regard to possible further acts of anti-union repression in the fire brigade, the Committee requested the Government and the complainant organization to inform it of any developments in the Committee for the Settlement of Disputes.
2. 58. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in communications dated 4 November 2016 and 11 May 2017. The Committee notes that this information indicates that: (i) all the trade union founding members who had been dismissed, including Ms Queme Roma, Mr Pérez Soberanis and Mr Enríquez Suchite, were reinstated in their posts with payment of their outstanding wages; and (ii) although the investigation into the criminal complaint which had been filed by the SGTBCVBG against the former management of the fire brigade was still pending, the Committee for the Settlement of Disputes before the ILO in the area of Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining found in the mediation sessions which took place in 2016 that there was now harmonious social dialogue between the trade union and the new fire brigade authorities. In light of this information, which it notes with satisfaction, the Committee considers this case closed and will not pursue its examination.