Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Cabo Verde (Ratification: 1999)

The Committee notes the observations of the National Workers’ Union of Cape Verde–Trade Union Confederation (UNTC–CS) received in September 2016, regarding the issues examined by the Committee in this comment.

Article 3 of the Convention. Minimum services in the event of a strike. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted with interest the establishment of an independent tripartite body to determine minimum services during a strike. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that a tripartite workshop was held in June 2017, organized with ILO assistance, during which the issues of minimum services and civil requisition in the case of a strike were addressed. With respect to the independent tripartite committee, the Government reports that the workshop recommended that: (i) the tripartite committee could establish a list of essential services to be submitted to the Council for Social Cooperation; (ii) the independent tripartite committee would work in cooperation with the Council for Social Cooperation; and (iii) the committee should be made up, in addition to its three permanent members, of two ad hoc members, chosen for each specific situation, according to the sector in which the strike takes place. The Committee also notes that the UNTC–CS has differing opinions from the Government about the nature, composition and operation of the independent tripartite committee; and that it presents a list of counterproposals intended to ensure the independence of the committee from the Council for Social Cooperation and the permanent nature of its composition. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication of the conclusion on 11 July 2017 of a strategic social cooperation agreement and an evaluation of the impact of the Labour Code to determine its possible re-examination in 2019. Recalling the possibility of requesting the technical assistance of the Office, the Committee encourages the Government and the social partners to pursue their efforts to establish a consensus on the composition and operation of the tripartite committee responsible for determining the minimum services in the event of a strike in essential services. The Committee requests the Government to indicate any progress made in this respect. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the possible formulation and adoption of a revised list of minimum services in essential services. Pending the commencement of the operation of the committee and the adoption of the list, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the process of determining the minimum services in the event of a strike in essential services.

Recourse to civil requisition. In its previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to take the necessary measures to limit the situations in which it is possible to have recourse to civil requisition. The Committee notes in this respect the Government’s indications that: (i) requisition must only be implemented in serious cases to avoid irreparable damage, and in no case may it be used to hinder the right to strike; (ii) following the legislative reform of 2016 in relation to the determination of minimum services by a tripartite committee, civil requisition may only be used in cases of failure to comply with the minimum services, as determined by an agreement between the parties or by the tripartite committee; and (iii) this legislative reform is the result of tripartite consensus. The Committee recalls that it is desirable to limit powers of requisitioning to cases in which the right to strike may be limited, or even prohibited, namely: (i) in the public service for public servants exercising authority in the name of the State; (ii) in essential services in the strict sense of the term; and (iii) in the case of an acute national or local crisis (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 151). The Committee considers that services may only be considered essential, for the purposes of restricting or prohibiting the right to strike, when their interruption would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population (see General Survey op cit., paragraph 131). The Committee notes in this respect the recent complaint filed with the Committee on Freedom of Association (Case No. 3276) alleging that the imposition of civil requisition during a strike did not take into account the new rules in relation to the determination of minimum services. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend the legislative provisions concerned in order to limit requisition, considered as an exceptional measure, to the above situations.

Majority required to call a strike. In its previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to take the necessary measures with a view to amending the Labour Code to ensure that, where a vote is held for the purpose of deciding on a strike, only the votes cast are counted. The Committee takes due note of the Government’s indication that, under sections 114(2) and (3) of the Labour Code, in enterprises in which the majority of workers are not represented by a union, the decision to strike requires both the participation of the majority of workers in the assembly and a vote in favour from the majority of voters, and not the majority of workers in the enterprise.