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Informe provisional - Informe núm. 259, Noviembre 1988

Caso núm. 1432 (Perú) - Fecha de presentación de la queja:: 14-DIC-87 - Cerrado

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  1. 709. The Trade Union of Seamen employed by the CPV presented a complaint
    • alleging the violation of freedom of association by the Government of Peru in
    • a communication of 14 December 1987. Additional information in support of this
    • complaint was sent on 22 January 1988. The Trade Union of Shoreworkers
    • employed by the CPV sent a communication dated 2 February 1988. The Government
    • sent its observations in communications of 6 May and 23 September 1988.
  2. 710. Peru has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the
    • Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) and the Right to Organise and
    • Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. The complainants' allegations

A. The complainants' allegations
  1. 711. In its communication of 14 December 1987, the Trade Union of Seamen
    • employed by the CPV alleges that the Peruvian Steamship Company has violated
    • Convention No. 98 by engaging in anti-trade union discrimination and acts of
    • interference in trade union activities, as evidenced by the daily harassment
    • of workers, the curtailment of long-standing rights, the threat to dismiss
    • workers who do not accept conditions laid down by the undertaking and the
    • replacement of unionised workers by non-unionised workers; these measures have
    • compelled many workers to withdraw from the trade union in order to keep their
    • jobs. Likewise, according to the complainant, the Peruvian Steamship Company
    • owes workers 12 months' basic wages and 12 supplementary bonuses, going back
  2. to 1981, as well as an 82 per cent basic wage increase as from 1987, under the
    • terms of a collective agreement and a Supreme Decree of the same year. The
    • company grants workers paid annual leave after two full years of service at
    • ludicrously reduced wages. The company's harassment has led many workers to
    • resign and yet, more often than not, it refuses to pay the required
    • compensation for length of service; in the few cases where it has paid this
    • compensation workers have had to wait up to one year, while the legislation
    • provides for a maximum delay of 48 hours. The company has also failed to abide
    • by medical assistance requirements in spite of the fact that it deducts and
    • withholds contributions to the Peruvian Social Security Institute (IPSS) and
    • contributions for family medical insurance; however, the company does not pay
    • the corresponding contributions to these institutions, thereby making it
    • impossible for these workers and their families to obtain medical care. The
    • complainant's communication adds that by means of wage tactics the company is
    • pitting workers against one another with a view to breaking the trade union:
    • although the company pays ludicrous wages in general, it has created the
      • so-called "positions of trust", which are filled by workers who have left the
    • union. Likewise, the company is in violation of the Labour Stability Act and
    • the Constitution inasmuch as it has over 60 workers on short-term contracts
    • even though they have been working for the company for eight to 20 years
    • without interruption. Lastly, as regards occupational health and safety, the
    • company's boats in collusion with the port authorities at Callas have been
    • granted navigability certificates although they are in a terrible state.
  3. 712. In its communication of 22 January 1988, the Trade Union of Seamen
    • employed by the CPV sent copies of complaints presented to the Regional Office
    • of Labour and Inspection and the First Provincial Criminal District Attorney
    • of Callao, as well as copies of the collective agreements which the company is
    • alleged to have violated since 1981.
  4. 713. In its communication of 2 February 1988, the Trade Union of
    • Shoreworkers employed by the CPV also alleges the violation of freedom of
    • association by the Peruvian Steamship Company, mentioning acts of anti-union
    • discrimination and interference, including the harassment of workers, the
    • curtailment of acquired rights, the threats to dismiss workers who do not
    • accept the company's conditions and ill-treatment, which have led many workers
    • to resign from the trade union. The communication of the Trade Union of
    • Shoreworkers employed by the CPV alleges that since 1982 the company has not
    • paid collectively bargained remuneration or respected clauses concerning wage
    • restructuring, wage parity, work clothes, industrial safety and occupational
    • hygiene, bonuses for work in refrigerated areas, and hours of work established
    • for several years through agreements and legislation. Likewise, it has revoked
    • provisions concerning job advancement and raises, as defined in collective
    • agreements regulated by the National Statistics Institute. The harassment of
    • longshoremen is constant; the company has gone so far as to send notices of
    • dismissal to workers on sick leave, in violation of legal provisions which
    • prohibit the dismissal of workers while they are receiving sickness benefits.
    • The communication adds that under such great pressure several workers have
    • accepted certain incentives offered by the company and resigned; however, they
    • have been unable to obtain compensation payments or have been able to obtain
    • them only in instalments even though the law provides that such benefits must
    • be paid within a delay of 48 hours. The company constantly dodges its
    • responsibilities as regards medical assistance, and many workers therefore
    • have no family medical insurance.
  5. 714. The communication adds that the company is endeavouring to break the
    • union by dividing workers with wage tactics and by creating the so-called
    • "positions of trust" which are given to workers who have left the trade union
    • and who receive twice the normal wage for the same work. Job positions and
    • career paths which have been negotiated with the company, and which therefore
    • have legal force, are violated by Supreme Decree No. 008-86-TC, in spite of
    • the fact that section 2 of this Decree has, in respect of the Peruvian
    • Steamship Company, suspended all instruments, standards and labour and
    • administrative agreements which do not have the force of law. The complainant
    • alleges that the so-called employment contracts are used to compel workers to
    • give up job security, to give up hours of work established by agreement and by
    • law, to give up any other wage increase by way of collective agreement, and to
    • give up any other type of remuneration or improvement in the conditions of
    • work through collective bargaining, by requiring them to resign from the Trade
    • Union of Shoreworkers employed by the CPV, and by making such resignations
    • appear as voluntary. The complainant encloses copies of the collective
    • agreements that the enterprise has allegedly violated, and a copy of Supreme
    • Decree No. 008-86-TC.
  6. 715. Lastly, the complainant's communication states that the company has
    • violated several articles of the Constitution, as well as other legislation
    • and Decrees, and that its protests are disregarded by the employer and by
    • government authorities.
    • B. The Government's reply
  7. 716. The Government sent its observations in a communication of 6 May 1988.
    • It states that the Peruvian Steamship Company (CPV) is a government-owned
    • corporation subject to private law, which currently finds itself in a
    • difficult economic situation. For this reason, and in order to help it stay
    • afloat, the State has approved a substantial line of credit and given it the
    • necessary financial assistance. Nevertheless, in the light of the complaints
    • presented by the workers, the General Inspection Office and the Ministry of
    • Labour and Social Welfare's First Regional Labour Office were requested to
    • supply information concerning the complaints presented by the Trade Union of
    • Seamen and the Trade Union of Shoreworkers employed by the CPV against the
    • Peruvian Steamship Company, leading to the preparation of reports Nos.
  8. 006-88-IN-IP, 004-88-DI-CALL, 004-88-2-DD-CALL, 006-88-IDD-CALL and
  9. 001-DN-CALL, in co-ordination with the Regional Labour Office of Callao. The
    • Government attaches these reports to its communication.
  10. 717. The Government states that the Regional Director of the First Regional
    • Labour and Social Welfare Office reviewed the documentation submitted by the
    • above-mentioned trade union organisations and found that certain complaints
    • are vague and unfounded, and that others are being examined by labour
    • authorities in accordance with legal procedures established in Supreme Decrees
    • Nos. 006-71-TR, 006-72-TR and 003-82-TR. Since the protests are still being
    • examined, in accordance with the established procedures, it would be premature
    • to state that the company has infringed any regulations, and even more so with
    • the consent of the authorities, as has been stated by the complainant trade
    • union organisations. Moreover, it should be noted that the Director of the
    • First Regional Labour and Social Welfare Office of this Ministry has
    • instructed that the complaints be given prompt consideration.
  11. 718. Lastly, the Government states that there is no basis for allegations
    • that Peru fails to comply with the provisions of Convention No. 98, inasmuch
    • as the Government has adopted legal measures compatible with the Convention to
    • ensure its satisfactory application. It has established adequate procedural
    • machinery to which the organisations involved have themselves made recourse;
    • indeed, their claims are being examined as indicated in the previous
    • paragraph. Therefore, the statements made by the complainant trade unions are
    • inaccurate inasmuch as the country has legislation and procedures to examine
    • and sanction the alleged actions.
  12. 719. In a communication of 23 September 1988 the Government refers to the
    • comments made by the harbour master of the port of Callas on this matter,
    • which refute the complainant's allegations that he unfairly granted
    • certificates of navigability and explain that these certificates were not
    • issued by him, but by the Director-General of harbour masters and coast
    • guards. Nevertheless, he had received complaints from the complainant union
    • concerning shortcomings in the maintenance of equipment, the poor living
    • quarters and unhealthy conditions on board; in conformity with the law he had
    • forced the accused to remedy the situations and imposed fines on the
    • defaulting parties.

C. The Committee's conclusions

C. The Committee's conclusions
  1. 720. The Committee notes that the allegations presented by the Trade Union
    • of Seamen employed by the CPV refer to the violation of Convention No. 98
    • through acts of anti-union discrimination, the daily harassment of trade union
    • members, the curtailment of workers' acquired rights, threats of dismissal,
      • back-pay owed to staff, curtailment of leave entitlements, overdue payment of
    • social benefits, the lack of medical care, and the infraction of job security
    • legislation and industrial and occupational safety standards.
  2. 721. Likewise, the Committee notes that other allegations presented by the
    • Trade Union of Shoreworkers employed by the CPV refer to the partial
      • non-payment since 1982, of wages agreed on in collective agreements on wage
    • restructuring, wage parity, work clothes, bonuses for work in refrigerated
    • areas, hours of work and to the harassment of longshoremen through dismissal
    • notices sent to workers on sick leave, the failure to make severance payments
    • and pay "retirement incentives" within the time-limits set down by law;
    • workers have been compelled to give up the hours of work established by
    • collective agreement, as well as any wage increases, economic benefits, and
    • improvement in conditions of work gained through collective bargaining through
    • the so-called "employment contracts", which moreover require workers to give
    • up their membership in the Trade Union of Shoreworkers employed by the CPV.
  3. 722. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government, which
    • states that the Peruvian Steamship Company is a government-owned corporation
    • operating under private law which is experiencing financial difficulties. The
    • Committee notes that with reference to the complainants' allegations, the
    • Government states that it has requested information from the labour
    • authorities concerning the protests made against the CPV; that the Government
    • considers some of these allegations to be vague, and states that others are
    • currently being examined by the labour authorities in accordance with
    • applicable legal procedures. Moreover, the Committee notes that the labour
    • authorities have ordered that these complaints be examined expeditiously, and
    • that the Government affirms that Peru has enacted legal measures which are
    • compatible with Convention No. 98, which guarantee its satisfactory
    • application and which establish pertinent procedural machinery for that
    • purpose.
  4. 723. As regards certain allegations presented by the complainants, namely
    • the non-payment by the CPV to workers of 12 periods of basic wages and 12
    • supplementary bonuses, the grant of leave after two years of uninterrupted
    • service, the delays in payment for length-of-service compensation payments,
    • the non-payment by the company of social security contributions and family
    • medical insurance premiums even though it deducts and withholds funds for
    • these purposes, as well as the dismissal of workers while on sick leave
    • contrary to legal provisions, the Committee points out that it is not
    • competent to examine legislation concerning social security or conditions of
    • work, and is therefore not in a position to decide on these allegations. (See
  5. 218th Report, Case No. 1113 (India), para. 715.)
  6. 724. As regards the complainants' allegations concerning discriminatory
    • anti-union practices and interference, such as the daily harassment of
      • workers, threats of dismissal, the creation of the so-called "positions of
      • trust" filled by workers who have resigned from the trade union and who are
      • paid twice the salary for the same work, and the incentives offered to workers
      • to resign from the trade union, among others, the Committee notes that, on the
      • one hand, the allegations submitted by the complainants are general in nature
      • or insufficiently detailed to enable the Committee fully to examine the
      • problem and, on the other hand, it notes the Government's observations to the
      • effect that these protests have been brought to the attention of the labour
      • authorities who are now examining them.

The Committee's recommendations

The Committee's recommendations
  1. 725. In the light of its foregoing interim conclusions, the Committee
    • invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
      • a) The Committee requests the complainants to send more detailed and
    • precise information on the allegations concerning the charges of interference
    • and anti-union discrimination.
      • b) The Committee requests the Government to send a copy of the decisions
    • taken by labour authorities concerning the complaints under examination; in
    • general, it recalls the principle that no person should suffer discrimination
    • in employment on the grounds of legitimate trade union activities. Geneva, 10
    • November 1988. Roberto Ago, Chairman.
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