Decision on the seventh item on the agenda: Report of the Director-General

The Governing Body:

(a) approved the report of the Tripartite Committee contained in document GB.324/INS/7/8;

(b) encouraged the Government to continue opting for social dialogue in the event of future reforms in the port sector and to submit information to the Committee of Experts on the results obtained by virtue of measures taken in a tripartite context with a view to continuous improvement of working conditions and efficiency in ports (paragraph 57);

(c) invited the Government to submit information to the Committee of Experts on the measures taken both by the authorities concerned and the employers’ organizations signatory to the agreement of 12 September 2012 for the new legal framework governing the port sector including up-to-date comparative statistical data on the dock workforce in the country, as well as information on the number of temporary or casual dockworkers (paragraph 83) and on the action taken to bring the collective agreements in force in the country’s various ports in line with the new legal framework governing dock work in accordance with Act No. 3/2013 (paragraph 84);

(d) entrusted the Committee of Experts with following up on the issues raised in the Committee’s report with respect to the application of the Dock Work Convention, 1973 (No. 137);

(e) made the report publicly available and closed the procedure initiated by the representation of the Union of stevedores, cargo handlers and maritime checking clerks in central and southern Portugal, the Union XXI – Trade union association of administrative staff, technicians and operators at the container cargo terminals in the Port of Sines, the Union of dockworkers in the Port of Aveiro, and the Union of stevedores, cargo handlers and checking clerks at the Port of Caniçal, alleging the non-observance by Portugal of Convention No. 137.

(Document GB.324/INS/7/8, paragraph 85.)