Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2004, published 93rd ILC session (2005)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ratification: 1969)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received and that the Government has not replied to the comments made by the Conscience of Workers and Peasants of Congo (CTP), dated 10 July 2003. The Committee also notes the comments made by the Confederation of Trade Unions of Congo (CSC), an organization affiliated to the World Confederation of Labour (WCL), dated 31 May 2004.

Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee recalls that, although section 235 of the new Labour Code prohibits all acts of interference by workers’ and employers’ organizations in each other’s affairs, section 236 provides that acts of interference shall be defined more specifically in a ministerial order. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide a copy of this order as soon as it is adopted.

Article 4. The Committee notes that in its comments the CTP indicates that certain enterprises, such as the National Electricity Company (SNEL), exclude representative trade union organizations from collective bargaining without taking into account section 13 of the national inter-occupational collective labour agreement, concluded and signed by the organizations of workers and employers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which provides that only trade unions whose representativeness is confirmed by the election of at least one trade union delegate may participate in collective bargaining in the enterprise. The Committee therefore requests the Government to reply to the CTP’s comments and requests it to take all necessary measures to promote collective bargaining with representative organizations.

Article 6. With regard to collective bargaining in the public sector, the Committee had noted in its previous comment that section 1 of the Labour Code, which specifies its scope of application, explicitly excludes career members of the state public services who are governed by the general conditions of service (Act No. 81-003 of 17 July 1981 issuing the conditions of service of career members of the state public services) and career employees and officials of the state public services governed by specific conditions of service. Noting that the CSC’s comments indicate that no measures have been taken to establish mechanisms to promote collective bargaining in the public sector, the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate whether public servants who are not engaged in the administration of the State have the right to bargain collectively, and to keep it informed in future reports of measures intended to encourage and promote the negotiation of terms and conditions of employment between the public authorities and workers’ organizations in this sector.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to provide its report as soon as possible and is also addressing a request directly to the Government.