Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 407, June 2024

Case No 3019 (Paraguay) - Complaint date: 14-MAR-13 - Closed

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

1. 23. The Committee last examined this case, which concerns various allegations of barriers to the creation of trade unions, dismissals of trade union leaders and members, anti-union discrimination, obstacles to collective bargaining and deficiencies in the sanctioning procedures of the labour inspectorate, at its meeting in March 2017 [see 381st Report, paras 516–548]. On that occasion, in addition to referring the follow-up of its recommendations of a legislative nature to the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR), the Committee requested the Government to: (i) to keep it informed of tripartite discussions held in the Tripartite Advisory Council or in any other setting in relation to the use of employers’ powers to contest the registration of unions; and (ii) to indicate whether Mr Leoncio Brítez, Mr Gustavo Adolfo Jara Aquino and Mr Teodoro Enciso remained in detention, specifying the status of the criminal case lodged against them, and to forward a copy of the court rulings once they have been issued.
2. 24. The Committee notes the observations provided by the Government in its communication dated 17 April 2019.
3. 25. Regarding the holding of tripartite discussions on the use of employers’ powers to contest the registration of unions, the Government indicates that, in 2019, on the occasion of the first meeting of the Tripartite Advisory Council, the social partners expressed their commitment to work together and to pursue an agenda that includes freedom of association, among other issues.
4. 26. With regard to the detention of the three aforementioned trade unionists and the status of the criminal case lodged against them, the Government indicates that in 2012 a request was filed for the application of a conditional suspension of proceedings in favour of these trade unionists, which was granted by the competent court in 2013.
5. 27. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that, in 2019, the Tripartite Advisory Council undertook to pursue an inclusive agenda on freedom of association, without providing information on tripartite discussions held specifically in relation to the allegations that employers are relying on legal provisions to contest the final registration of unions. Observing that the CEACR has examined the functioning of the registration of trade unions in practice in the context of the supervision of the application of Convention No. 87, the Committee requests the Government to provide the CEACR with information on the use of employers’ legal powers to contest the registration of unions, including information on tripartite discussions held in this respect in the Tripartite Advisory Council or in other forums.
6. 28. With regard to the detention of three trade unionists and the criminal case lodged against them, the Committee notes that the Government indicates that in 2013 a conditional suspension of criminal proceedings was granted in favour of these trade unionists. The Committee notes that article 25(6) of the Code of Criminal Procedure establishes that this procedural figure grounds the extinction of the criminal action.
7. 29. On the basis of the foregoing and having received no information from the complainant organization since 2016, the Committee considers that this case is closed and does not call for further examination.