Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Zambia (Ratification: 1996)

The Committee notes the comments made by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in a communication dated 29 August 2008, which are being translated and will be examined in the framework of the next reporting cycle.

The Committee recalls that for many years it has been requesting the Government to take measures to bring the following provisions of the Industrial and Labour Relations Act (ILRA) into conformity with the Convention:

–      section 2(e), which excludes from the scope of the Act, and therefore from the guarantees afforded by the Convention, workers in the prison service, judges, registrars of the court, magistrates and local court justices, and section 2(2), which accords the Minister discretional power to exclude certain categories of workers from the scope of the Act;

–      sections 18(1)(b) and 43(1)(a), under which a person, having been an officer of an employers’ or workers’ organization whose certificate of registration has been cancelled, may be disqualified from being an officer of a trade union if that person fails to satisfy the commissioner that she or he did not contribute to the circumstances leading to such cancellation;

–      section 76, which establishes no time frame within which conciliation should end before a strike can take place;

–      section 78(6)–(8), under which a strike can be discontinued if it is found by the court not to be “in the public interest”;

–      section 78(1), under which, as interpreted by a decision of the Industrial Relations Court, either party may take an industrial dispute to court;

–      section 107, which prohibits strikes in essential services, defined too broadly, and empowers the Minister to add other services to the list of essential services, in consultation with the Tripartite Consultative Labour Council; and

–      section 107, which empowers a police officer to arrest, without any possibility of bail, a person who is believed to be striking in an essential service and which imposes a fine and up to six months’ imprisonment.

In this regard, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the concerns of the Committee are being addressed through the review of the labour laws and that the Amendment Bills were pending before the Cabinet. It hopes that the envisaged amendments will take into account the comments that it has been making for many years and that they will be adopted in the near future following full and frank consultations with the social partners. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on any progress achieved in this respect and hopes that the amendments to the Act will be in full conformity with the provisions of the Convention.

Finally, the Committee notes the comments made by the Federation of Free Trade Unions of Zambia (FFTUZ) in a communication dated 16 June 2008 alleging that the new draft amending the Industrial and Labour Relations Act (Bill No. 6 of 2008) contains provisions, which, if adopted, would violate workers’ rights under the Convention and which were drafted without any consultation with the social partners. The Committee emphasizes the importance that should be attached to full and frank consultation taking place on any questions or proposed legislation affecting trade union rights. A request with regard to the provisions of Bill No. 6 of 2008 is addressed directly to the Government.