Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Trinidad and Tobago (Ratification: 1963)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. The Committee hopes that the Government’s report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous observation, which read as follows:

Article 4 of the Convention. Promotion of collective bargaining. The Committee has been referring for a number of years to the need to amend section 24(3) of the Civil Service Act that affords a privileged position to already registered associations, without providing objective and pre-established criteria for determining the most representative association in the civil service. The Committee had noted that the Government indicates in its report that the Civil Service Act review has been in progress but is not yet complete. However, after consultation with the employers’ and workers’ representative organizations, the Government considers that the amendment of section 24(3) is not possible at this time because the presence of more than one association representing the seven existing classes in the civil service for the purposes of consultations and negotiation could place the employer in a difficult position. The Committee had recalled, however, that where there exists a trade union which enjoys preferential or exclusive bargaining rights, as in the current system, decisions concerning the most representative organization should be made by virtue of objective and pre-established criteria instead of simply giving priority to the one which was registered earlier in time, so as to avoid any opportunities for partiality or abuse. The Committee expresses the firm hope that the legislation will be modified in the near future, including section 24(3), so as to bring it into conformity with the principles of the Convention, and requests the Government to indicate any developments thereon.

Promotion of collective bargaining. In its previous comments, the Committee referred to the need to amend section 34 of the Industrial Relations Act in order to ensure that, in cases in which no trade union represents the majority of workers, the minority unions can negotiate jointly a collective agreement applicable in the negotiating unit, or at least conclude a collective agreement on behalf of their own members. The Committee had noted that the Government reiterates that the Standing Tripartite Committee on Labour Matters (a consultative body) has not been reconstituted after the expiration of its term in December 2006. The Committee expresses the hope that concrete measures will be taken in the near future to amend the legislation so as to allow minority unions in the unit to bargain collectively, at least on behalf of their own members when there is no union that represents the majority of the workers. The Committee trusts that the Government will communicate progress on these issues in its next report and recalls that it can avail itself of the technical assistance of the Office.

ITUC comments. The Committee notes the comments from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) dated 24 August 2010 indicating that: (i) although the law states that workers can form and join trade unions, in practice, everyone working in “essential services”, which include domestic workers, drivers, gardeners and others, are not recognized as workers under the law and therefore cannot legally join trade unions; (ii) many unions had their collective bargaining blocked by employers’ delaying tactics; and (iii) the state authorities have repeatedly refused to negotiate collective agreements with the public sector unions. The Committee requests the Government to provide its observation thereon.