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

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Mauritania (Ratification: 1961)

The Committee notes the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), received on 1 September 2017, and the observations of the General Confederation of Workers of Mauritania (CGTM), received on 4 September 2017, denouncing violent repression resulting in deaths during trade union demonstrations and the systematic arrest of trade unionists during these demonstrations. The Committee notes these allegations with concern and requests the Government to provide its comments in this respect. The Committee notes the observations of the Free Confederation of Mauritanian Workers (CLTM), received on 31 August 2017, and the Government’s reply thereon.

Article 3 of the Convention. Trade union elections. The Committee previously noted the process initiated in 2014 for the adoption of a legal framework for the determination of criteria for the representativity of trade unions in the private and public sectors with a view to the organization of the corresponding elections and it requested the Government to provide information on the progress achieved. The Committee notes that the Government undertakes to include all the organizations concerned in consultations on the legislative reform process that it has commenced in relation to elections. The Committee also notes the observations of the CGTM to the effect that, despite a Memorandum of Understanding agreed between the social partners in 2017, the process is slow to achieve fruition and enterprises have still not received any notification of the process. However, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that three orders respecting staff delegates and the procedures for their election, the consolidation of election results and practical procedures for the organization and operation of the National Social Dialogue Council have been adopted since 2014. The Committee requests the Government to provide copies of these orders and to continue providing information on the progress achieved and on the legislative reform process that has been initiated with a view to the holding of elections.

Articles 2 and 3. Legislative amendments. The Committee recalls that for several years it has been requesting the Government to amend certain provisions of the Labour Code to bring them into full conformity with the Convention. The Committee once again expresses the firm hope that in the near future the Government will report tangible progress in the revision of the Labour Code with a view to bringing it fully into conformity with the Convention. The Committee expects that the Government will take due account in this regard of all the points recalled below:

• -Right of workers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing without prior authorization. The Committee requests the Government to take measures to amend section 269 of the Labour Code so as to remove any obstacles that prevent the exercise of the right to organize by minors who have access to the labour market (14 years of age, in accordance with section 153 of the Labour Code), whether as workers or apprentices, without the permission of their parents or guardian being necessary.
• -Right to organize of magistrates. The Committee recalls that for many years it has been requesting the Government to take measures to ensure that magistrates enjoy the right to establish and to join organizations of their own choosing, in accordance with Article 2 of the Convention. Noting the Government’s indication that magistrates now have their own organization in which they exercise their trade union rights to the full, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the legal basis that has enabled this progress.
• -Right of workers’ organizations to freely elect their representatives and to organize their administration and activities in full freedom, without interference from the public authorities. The Committee recalls that the combined implementation of sections 268 and 273 of the Labour Code is liable to be an obstacle to the right of organizations to elect their representatives in full freedom, by preventing them from electing qualified persons or depriving them of the experience of certain leaders when they do not have among their own ranks sufficient numbers of competent persons. The Committee therefore requests the Government to make the conditions less rigid for eligibility as trade union leaders or officers, for example by removing the requirement to belong to the occupation for a reasonable proportion of leaders. The Committee also requests the Government to amend section 278 of the Labour Code with a view to ensuring that any change in the administration or leadership of a trade union can take effect as soon as it has been notified to the competent authorities, and without the latter’s approval being necessary.
• -Compulsory arbitration. The Committee requests the Government to take measures to amend section 350 of the Labour Code to ensure that the possibility for the Minister of Labour to have recourse to compulsory arbitration in the event of a collective dispute is limited to cases involving an essential service in the strict sense of the term, that is a service the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population, and situations of acute national crisis.
• -Duration of mediation. Recalling that the maximum duration (120 days) of a mediation procedure before a strike may be called, as set out in section 346 of the Labour Code, is excessive, the Committee requests the Government to take measures to amend this provision in order to reduce the maximum duration.
• -Strike pickets. The Committee recalls that the restrictions imposed on strike pickets and the occupation of premises should be limited to cases in which the action ceases to be peaceful or in which the observance of the right to work of non-strikers or the right of the management to enter the premises of the enterprise is impaired. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take measures to amend section 359 of the Labour Code in order to abolish the prohibition of the peaceful occupation of workplaces or their immediate surroundings, and to provide for penal sanctions only in cases where action during a strike is not peaceful.