Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

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

The Committee notes the observations of the General Confederation of Enterprises of the Côte d’Ivoire (CGECI), received on 3 July 2019 concerning issues examined in this direct request.

Article 4 of the Convention. Right of workers’ organizations to collective bargaining. Criteria for representativeness. The Committee noted in its previous comments the representativeness thresholds established under section 54.2(1) and (2) of Act No. 2015-532 of 20 July 2015 on the Labour Code (at the enterprise or establishment level, at least 30 per cent of valid ballots cast representing at least 15 per cent of registered electors; in a broader occupational and geographical context, in order to be representative the organization must be representative in one or more enterprises together employing at least 15 per cent of the employees working in the occupational and geographical sector concerned) and requested the Government to provide information on the right of trade unions to collective bargaining in the event that none of them reaches the required threshold. While noting the Government’s general reply that no workers’ and employers’ organizations have been excluded from collective bargaining for not meeting the representativeness thresholds established under section 54.2(1) and (2) of the Labour Code, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to address in the legislation the issue of the exercise of the right to collective bargaining in the event that no trade union organization reaches the required threshold.

Right of employers’ organizations to collective bargaining. Criteria for representativeness. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that pursuant to section 54.2(3) of the Labour Code, in order for the following of a trade union or an organization of employers to be considered sufficient it must group together at least 30 per cent of the enterprises in its geographical area and sector of activity or group together enterprises which jointly employ at least 25 per cent of the employees working in its geographical area and sector of activity. In this respect, the Committee recalled that the establishment of an excessively high threshold of representativeness can be an obstacle to the promotion and development of free and voluntary collective bargaining and therefore requested the Government to take the necessary measures to reduce the fixed minimum requirements, so as to facilitate employers’ participation in the negotiation and conclusion of collective agreements. The Committee notes the Government’s reply that at present, no workers’ and employers’ organizations have been excluded from collective bargaining for not meeting the thresholds and the statements of the CGECI confirming the participation of employers’ organizations in negotiations irrespective of their representativeness threshold. Nevertheless recalling the importance of ensuring the conformity of the legislative provisions with the Convention, the Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to reduce the representativeness threshold required of employers’ organizations with regard to collective bargaining.

Article 6. Right to collective bargaining of public servants not engaged in the administration of the State. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that under section 73.7 of the Labour Code, the possibility of concluding collective agreements in the public service applies only to the staff of public services, enterprises and establishments not governed by specific conditions of service set out in law or regulation, and requested the Government to specify how, and on the basis of which text, public servants not engaged in the administration of the State who may be subject to specific conditions of service set out in a law or regulation enjoy their right to collective bargaining. The Committee notes, on the one hand, the Government’s assertion that public servants who are subject to a particular law or regulation have access to authorities through which they may refer their demands to their superiors for examination. On the other hand, it notes the observations of the CGECI calling on the Government to clarify the nature of these authorities. The Committee wishes to recall that under Articles 4 and 6 of the Convention, public servants not engaged in the administration of the State, a category that includes employees in public enterprises, municipal employees and employees in decentralized institutions, teachers in the public sector or even public transport staff, must be able not only to express their demands to their superiors but must also be granted the right to negotiate the conditions of their work and employment collectively. On this basis, the Committee requests the Government to provide, on the one hand, a list of the public services and establishments not governed by a law and, on the other hand, to specify whether, in law or in practice, public servants subject to a specific law or regulation may participate in formal collective bargaining mechanisms with regard to their conditions of work and employment that go beyond the mere presentation of their demands or consultations.