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

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Côte d'Ivoire (Ratification: 1961)

Application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments, further to the observations received from trade union organizations, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on any court decisions handed down relating to the anti-union dismissal of three activists of the National Union of Employees of SODEFOR (SYNACOS) and its Secretary-General. The Government denied the anti-union nature of the dismissals and emphasized that they were due to defamation and slander against the moral integrity of the managers of the enterprise and that the dismissals had been authorized by the labour inspectorate.

The Committee also noted the 2007 comments of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), according to which the Government interfered in the affairs of the National Union of Secondary School Teachers (SYNESCI) by challenging the legitimacy of its leader and occupying its premises. The Committee notes that, in its reply, the Government denies any interference and asserts that the trade union organization concerned has been the subject of a dispute since 2004 between two opposing factions and that the occupation of its premises by the militants of one of these factions in May 2006 followed the failure of a general assembly for unification held in April 2006. The Government adds that the case has been referred to the courts. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the court decisions handed down in relation to the dismissals of the leaders of the SYNACOS and the dispute in the SYNESCI.

The Committee notes the recent comments made by the ITUC on 26 August 2009 reporting acts of intimidation by the authorities against the National Union of High-level Health Managers of Côte d’Ivoire (SYNACASS-CI), and particularly the fact that the Secretary-General of the Union was removed from office without reasons being given in December 2008. The Committee, recalling the obligation to ensure that all workers enjoy adequate protection against acts of anti-union discrimination under Article 1 of the Convention, requests the Government to provide its comments on this subject.