Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 404, October 2023

Case No 3104 (Algeria) - Complaint date: 27-AUG-14 - Follow-up

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

1. 22. The Committee last examined this case, which concerns dismissals of officials and members of the Syndicat national autonome des postiers (Autonomous National Union of Postal Workers) (SNAP), at its June 2021 meeting. On that occasion, the Committee requested the Government to indicate the follow-up given to the ruling of 21 April 2019 of the Dar El-Beïda Court ordering Algérie Poste (Algerian postal service, hereinafter the enterprise) to pay an amount of 500,000 Algerian dinars (equivalent to US$3,750) in compensation for its refusal to implement rulings of September 2015 ordering the reinstatement of two dismissed trade unionists (Mr Nekkache and Mr Ammar Khodja). In particular, the Committee requested the Government to indicate whether the ruling had been the subject of an appeal by the complainants or whether it had been implemented [see 395th Report, June 2021, paras 25– 29].
2. 23. In a communication dated 8 August 2021, the complainant organization denounced the judicial harassment suffered by Mr Nekkache and Mr Ammar Khodja. It recalls that they were prosecuted by the enterprise in 2016 for usurpation of office and forgery for allegedly falsifying minutes recording the establishment of the SNAP trade union branch, and were convicted in first-instance rulings. According to the complainant organization, despite being acquitted by the Algiers Court of Appeal in 2019 in these cases, both Mr Nekkache (1 March 2019) and Mr Ammar Khodja (2 October 2019), the two union officials were summoned to the Dar El-Beïda central police station on the grounds of another complaint by the enterprise following SNAP social media posts. The complainant organization also denounced a campaign of harassment and intimidation by the enterprise against SNAP union officials and members. In conclusion, the complainant organization is calling for the immediate reinstatement of the trade union officials in compliance with the decisions handed down in their favour since 2019, and for the enterprise to cease its anti-union actions against the SNAP, and in particular the judicial harassment of its union officials.
3. 24. The Government provides its observations in communications dated 16 November 2019, 19 May 2022, 3 February and 8 September 2023 in which it indicates that, following the 21 April 2019 ruling, the enterprise paid Mr Ammar Khodja and Mr Nekkache an amount of 500,000 dinars (equivalent to US$3,750) each in compensation for its refusal to implement the reinstatement ruling of 8 September 2015. The Government claims that they have accepted their new employment status and no appeals have been recorded by the courts in this regard. According to the Government, they cannot apply for reinstatement to their posts under the provisions of existing legislation.
4. 25. Furthermore, the Government indicates that the SNAP has been able to continue its activities within the enterprise and has even increased its activity since 2023. The Government provides the minutes of the establishment of a branch of the trade union in the administrative district of Annaba dated 11 July 2021 as proof of the union’s activity, contrary to the assertions of the complainant organization. The Government also asserts that the labour inspectorate has not received any complaints concerning SNAP members regarding the establishment of trade union branches or the renewal of union structures. In addition, in view of the information it has provided and the absence of any information to the contrary from the complainants to the labour inspectorate or the authorized labour administration departments, the Government requests that the case be closed by the Committee.
5. 26. With regard to the situation of the dismissed trade union officials who were covered by the 2015 reinstatement rulings handed down in 2015 but not implemented by the enterprise, the Committee recalls that it had previously wondered how a public institution could refuse to implement the rulings of a judicial authority without being penalized. It had also expressed its deep concern at the delays in complying with the court decisions that acknowledged the unfair nature of the dismissals which, four years later, had still not been implemented, thus having an extremely serious, harmful effect on two trade union officials by leaving them without any income. The Committee recalls that it had also questioned whether the compensation ordered in April 2019 by the Dar El-Beïda Court was sufficiently dissuasive [see 395th Report, para. 28].
6. 27. The Committee notes that, while the enterprise has paid the lump sum of 500,000 Algerian dinars to Mr Ammar Khodja and Mr Nekkache respectively, as ordered by the courts in April 2019, there are differing views on the reinstatement of the trade union officials. The complainant organization expresses its wish for the trade union officials to be reinstated, while the Government maintains that no action to this effect has been taken by the labour administration or the courts. In this regard, the Committee refers to the clarifications contained in the report of the high-level mission that visited Algiers in May 2019 to follow up on the June 2018 conclusions of the Committee on the Application of Standards of the International Labour Conference concerning the application by Algeria of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87). According to this report, the Ministry of Justice confirmed that the 21 April 2019 rulings by the Dar El Beïda Court concerned only the payment of penalty payments to uphold an earlier decision and not settlement on the merits. As a result, the complainants would have to go back to court to enforce the reinstatement if the enterprise failed to do so. Once the deadlines had expired, the workers could lodge a further appeal to claim compensation, in addition to the penalty payment, in lieu of reinstatement. In this regard, the Committee recalls that, if the judicial authority determines that reinstatement of workers dismissed in violation of freedom of association is not possible, measures should be taken so that they are fully compensated. The compensation should be adequate, taking into account both the damage incurred and the need to prevent the repetition of such situations in the future [see Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Association, sixth edition, 2018, paras 1172 and 1173]. In these circumstances, the Committee requests the complainant organization to indicate whether Mr Ammar Khodja and Mr Nekkache have lodged appeals in the courts seeking enforcement of their reinstatement or compensation in lieu of reinstatement. In the absence of any additional information in this regard, the Committee will not pursue its examination of this issue.
7. 28. The Committee requests the Government to provide its observations on the complainant organization’s allegations that Mr Nekkache and Mr Ammar Khodja were summoned to the Dar-El-Beïda central police station in 2019 following fresh complaints from the enterprise about SNAP posts on social media, and to indicate any follow-up given to the said complaints.
8. 29. Lastly, welcoming the information provided by the Government on the SNAP’s presence within the enterprise, the Committee trusts that it will continue to guarantee that the trade union in question can pursue its activities in defence of its members’ interests in a climate that is free from pressure, intimidation, harassment or threats against its officials and members.