Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 1989, publiée 76ème session CIT (1989)

Convention (n° 98) sur le droit d'organisation et de négociation collective, 1949 - Yémen (Ratification: 1969)

The Committee notes the Government's report.

1. In its previous observation, the Committee requested the Government to take specific measures accompanied by penal sanctions in order to guarantee: (a) the protection of workers against any act of anti-union discrimination by employers both at the time of recruitment and during employment, in accordance with Article 1 of the Convention; and (b) the protection of workers' organisations against acts of interference by employers, in accordance with Article 2.

In its report, the Government refers once again to the constitutional guarantees respecting the rights and freedoms of citizens, and to the provisions of the Labour Code, which provide that the dignity and religious opinions of workers shall be respected, and which recognise the right of workers to vote for trade union purposes during employment (section 45 of the Labour Code).

The Committee emphasises that the protection set out in Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention must be guaranteed by appropriate measures, particularly legislative provisions, which are all the more necessary when the trade union movement is still at the stage of consolidation.

In order to ensure that effect is given to the Convention, the Committee therefore requests the Government to adopt, in the legislation, specific provisions to guarantee expressly the protection of workers against acts of anti-union discrimination and the protection of workers' organisations against acts of interference by employers or employers' organisations, accompanied by civil remedies and penal sanctions, and to indicate in its next report the measures that have been taken in this respect.

2. In its previous observation, the Committee requested the Government to take measures to encourage the collective negotiation of terms and conditions of employment, in view of the fact that no collective agreement had yet been concluded.

In its report, the Government refers to the provisions of the Labour Code that regulate the terms and conditions of employment within the context of individual negotiations (Chapter IV of the Labour Code). In the Committee's opinion, the information supplied illustrates that the collective bargaining process has still not been implemented, although, however, new trade unions have been established in various industrial branches.

The Committee therefore requests the Government, under the terms of Article 4 of the Convention, that appropriate measures be taken to encourage and promote the full development and utilisation of machinery for voluntary negotiation of collective agreements between the social partners, in order to establish by this means terms and conditions of employment and thereby make it possible for the trade unions to play fully their part in promoting and defending the rights and interests of their members, in accordance with the Convention and the by-laws of the trade unions.

3. The Committee also notes that sections 68, 69 and 71 of the Labour Code, which were the subject of previous comments, concerning the compulsory registration of a collective agreement and its cancellation in the event of it not conforming to the security and economic interests of the country, will be examined within the framework of the current revision of the Labour Code.

Although these provisions do not appear to be applied in practice, in the absence of any collective contract, the Committee points out that they are contrary to the principle of Article 4, under which collective bargaining must be free and cannot be subject to legal restrictions.

The Committee notes that one of the objectives pursued by trade unions, under the terms of section 5(c) of the Regulations concerning the statutes of trade unions, is to represent workers in debates on matters which concern them on bodies set up for this purpose. It hopes that the above provisions will be amended and that, within the context of measures to promote free and voluntary negotiation, appropriate machinery will be set up in order to associate the social partners on a voluntary basis with the formulation of the Government's economic and social policy. It requests the Government to indicate in its next report the measures that have been taken to this effect.