Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Grenada (Ratification: 1994)

The Committee notes the Government’s report and the comments from the Grenada Trades Union Council (GTUC) and the Grenada Employers’ Federation (GEF), dated 6 September and 14 July 2007 respectively.

Articles 2 and 4 of the Convention. The right of workers and employers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization and dissolution by the administrative authority. In its previous comments, the Committee had asked the Government to reduce, the number of members (ten) required for the registration of an employers’ organization. The Committee notes the Government’s reply, according to which taking into account that the GEF is not in agreement with this recommendation made by the Committee of Experts, the Government will have great difficulty to make such change in the legislation. However, the Committee recalls once again that, according to Article 2 of the Convention, employers should enjoy the right to establish the organizations of their own choosing, and considers that the minimum requirement of ten employers to form an employers’ organization is excessive and capable of hindering the creation of employers’ organizations, particularly given the relatively small size of the country. In these circumstances, the Committee asks the Government to consider amending sections 5(2) and 9 of the Labour Relations Act of 1999 by reducing the registration requirement.

Article 3. The right of workers’ organizations to organize their administration. The Committee had required the Government to amend section 24(2) of the Labour Relations Act, which permits the registrar to require the delivery of detailed accounts of the revenue, expenditure, assets, liabilities and funds of the organization at any time; failure to comply with this order would result in a fine of $10,000 or one year’s imprisonment (section 24(6)). The Committee notes the Government’s proposed amendment to section 24(2) of the Labour Relations Act which limits the possibility for the registrar to request periodic financial reports to the only case when there are serious grounds for believing that the activities of an organization are contrary to the rule of law. The Committee hopes that this amendment will be adopted in the near future and requests the Government to keep it informed on this issue.

The right of workers’ organizations to organize their activities and formulate their programmes. The Committee had noted in its previous direct request that section 45(3) of the Labour Relations (Amendments) Act of July 2003, grants the minister the power to refer to compulsory arbitration disputes in essential services and had requested the Government to indicate in its report which services lie within the scope of section 45(3) of the Act. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Labour Relation (Amendments) Act of July 2003 did not modify the Second Schedule, which establishes the essential services. The Committee notes that this Second Schedule includes sanitation, seaport and dock services among the essential services. In this connection, the Committee recalls once again that it does not consider sanitation, seaport and dock services to be essential in the strict sense of the term – that is to say, services, the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. This notwithstanding, the Committee considers that a minimum service could be appropriate as a possible alternative in these situations, where a substantial restriction or total prohibition of strike would not appear to be justified and where, without calling into question the right to strike of the large majority of workers, one might consider ensuring that users’ basic needs are met or that facilities operate safely or without interruption. In any circumstance, workers’ organizations should be able to participate in defining such a service in the same way as employers and the public authorities. In these conditions, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend the Second Schedule in accordance with the principles set out above.