Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 368, June 2013

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

1. 30. The Committee examined this case at its November 2011 meeting, when it made the following recommendation [see 362nd Report, para. 1043]:
   • The Committee requests the Government to ensure that, in the future, in cases where a non-essential service is paralysed, but there is justification for taking measures to ensure a minimum operational service, the workers’ and employers’ organizations concerned are involved in the decision-making process, and that measures are not implemented unilaterally.
2. 31. In its communication of 6 September 2012, the Government indicates that: (1) there have been no new situations in France involving the paralysis of a non-essential service, as labour disputes since 2011 have not included any protests comparable in nature, scope or duration to those staged against pension reform in October 2010; (2) the disputes which have occurred have been in limited geographical and occupational sectors and none of them have resulted in the paralysis of any service as a whole, as was the case in the oil sector in October 2010; (3) consultation is still a preferred method when determining the right to strike in France, as recommended by the Committee; and (4) for example, by means of Act No. 2012-375 of 19 March 2012, the French legislature recently adopted provisions relating to the right to strike in passenger air transport, which explicitly call for consultation before the start of any dispute; the Act establishes machinery for social dialogue aimed at preventing the exercise of the right to strike; the employer and the representative trade unions are encouraged to hold negotiations with a view to signing a framework agreement that establishes a dispute prevention procedure and promotes the development of social dialogue; under this agreement, strike action is only a possibility after negotiations between the employer and the trade unions; the framework agreement lays down rules for determining the structure and operation of the negotiations prior to any dispute.
3. 32. The Committee takes due note of this information.