Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Ecuador (Ratification: 1959)

The Committee notes the Government’s report. It notes with regret that the Government has sent no information in response to most of the comments that the Committee has been making for several years on the following matters.

Article 1 of the Convention. With regard to the need to include in the legislation provisions that guarantee protection against anti-union discrimination at the time of recruitment the Government states that no legislative initiative has been introduced in this respect. The Committee emphasizes the need for such provisions to be included and requests the Government to provide information in its next report on any measures taken to that end.

Article 4. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that there has not been any development with regard to the comments relative to the need to amend the second paragraph of section 229 of the Labour Code, regarding the submission of the draft collective agreement, so that minority trade union organizations which include not more than 50 per cent of workers subject to the Labour Code may negotiate, on their own or jointly, on behalf of their own members. The Committee requests the Government to take steps for the necessary amendments to be made as soon as possible.

The Committee had also referred to the need for the public teaching staff and heads of educational institutions, and for staff who perform technical and occupational duties in the education sector (who are subject to the basic laws on education and the salary scales of teachers) referred to in section 3(h) of the Civil Service and Administrative Careers Act, to benefit from the right to organize and bargain collectively, not only at the national level but also at the local and establishment levels. The Committee observes that the Government mentions the Act on education and hierarchical promotion but has not transmitted the Act. The Committee again requests the Government to provide in its next report the legislative provisions governing the labour relations of these workers and under which they benefit from the guarantees set forth in the Convention.

Article 6. With regard to the need to amend section 3(g) of the Civil Service and Administrative Careers Act so that workers in government departments or other public sector institutions and in private sector institutions that pursue social or public purposes enjoy the rights guaranteed in the Convention, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, no progress has yet been made in the reform of the above Act. The Committee recalls that under Article 6 of the Convention, only public servants engaged in the administration of the State may be excluded from its scope, and that the workers referred to in section 3(g) of the Civil Service and Administrative Careers Act do not fall into this category. The Committee again asks the Government to take steps to amend the abovementioned Act and to provide information on all such measures taken in its next report.

Lastly, the Committee notes that the United Workers’ Front (FUT) sent comments on the application of the Convention by a letter of 11 March 2003, objecting to section 8 of Executive Decree No. 44 of 30 January 2003 prohibiting an increase in wages and remuneration in the budgets of public sector entities for the financial year 2003. The Committee notes with regret that the Government has not sent its comments thereon. The Committee recalls that all workers in the public administration who are not engaged in the administration of the State must be able to enjoy the guarantees laid down in the Convention and, consequently, negotiate collectively their conditions of employment, including wages and that if, under an economic stabilization or structural adjustment policy, i.e. for imperative reasons of national economic interest, wage rates cannot be fixed freely by means of collective bargaining, these restrictions should be applied as an exceptional measure and only to the extent necessary, should not exceed a reasonable period and should be accompanied by adequate safeguards to effectively protect the standard of living of the workers concerned, in particular those who are likely to be the most affected (see General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, 1994, paragraphs 262 and 260).