Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Central African Republic (Ratification: 1960)

Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee notes that the provisions of Act No. 09-004 of 29 January 2009 issuing the Labour Code do not apply to self‑employed workers. Recalling that all workers, with the only possible exception of members of the armed forces and the police, should have the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing, the Committee requests the Government to ensure that the workers concerned can enjoy the right to organize and to provide information on this matter.

The Committee observes that Title II, Chapter I, section I of the Labour Code (concerning the purpose of trade unions and their dissolution) refers to the possibility of creating trade unions and trade union sections within enterprises. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether, besides trade union sections, workers may establish trade unions at the enterprise level and, if so, under which legal provision.

Article 3. The Committee notes that, under section 24 of the new Labour Code, trade union officers shall be of Central African nationality, but that any foreign member of a trade union who has resided in the Central African Republic for three years may assume an executive or administrative post within a trade union, provided that his country grants the same right to Central African nationals. The Committee recalls that provisions on nationality which are too strict could deprive some workers of the right to elect their representatives, for example, migrant workers in sectors in which they account for a significant share of the workforce. For that reason, legislation should be made flexible so as to permit the organizations to elect their leaders freely and without hindrance, and to permit foreign workers access to trade unions posts, at least after a reasonable period of residence in the host country (see General Survey of 1994 on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraph 118). Although the period of residence set out in section 24 seems reasonable, the Committee considers that the requirement of reciprocity is excessive and should be removed. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report the measures taken or envisaged to amend section 24 of the Labour Code in this sense.