Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Lesotho (Ratification: 1966)

The Committee notes the observations made by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in a communication received on 4 August 2011.

The Committee recalls that its previous comments concerned:

Article 4 of the Convention. Representativeness requirements for certification of a union as the exclusive bargaining agent. The Committee recalls that it had trusted that under section 198B(2) of the Labour Code, as amended, disputes which required the holding of elections to determine which trade union was most representative were disposed of by means of a ballot and not left to the discretion of the arbitrator. The Committee recalls that new organizations, or organizations with a sufficiently large number of votes, should be able to ask for a new election after a reasonable period has elapsed since the previous election.

Recognition of the most representative union. The Committee recalls that it had noted that section 198(1)(b) of the Labour Code defined a representative trade union as a “registered trade union that represents the majority of the employees in the employ of an employer”, and that section 198A(1)(c) specified that “a majority of employees in the employ of an employer means over 50 per cent of those employees”. The Committee recalls that if no union covers more than 50 per cent of the workers, collective bargaining rights should be granted to all the unions in the unit, at least on behalf of their own members.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that a consolidation of labour legislation is under way, with ILO technical assistance, and that it will include the issues raised by the Committee as key areas for reform. The Committee expresses the hope that legislation in full conformity with the rights enshrined in the Convention is adopted in the very near future and requests the Government to provide information on progress made in this regard.

Collective bargaining in the education sector. The Committee notes the Government’s reference to Bokang Vincent Lelimo v. President of the Labour Court and Others (LAC/A/04/05), in which the Labour Court of Appeals held, in a judgment delivered in 2006, that teachers in the public sector were not public officials and so, according to the Government, they enjoy the right to collective bargaining. In its previous observation, the Committee had requested the Government to provide copies of the Education Act 2010 and the Labour Code (Amendment) Act No. 1 of 2010, so as to assess the extent to which trade union rights enshrined in the Convention were recognized. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide copies of the Education Act 2010 and the Labour Code (Amendment) Act No. 1 of 2010, which were not received with its latest report. The Committee further requests the Government to provide details of any collective bargaining agreements reached for teachers in the public and private sectors.