Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Uzbekistan (Ratification: 2016)

The Committee notes the Government’s first report and the following applicable pieces of legislation: Labour Code (1995), Law on Trade Unions (2019), Law on Public Associations (1991), and Law on Non-Governmental Non-Commercial Organizations (1999).

Article 2 of the Convention. Right of workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish and join organizations. Definition of worker. The Committee notes that pursuant to section 16 of the Labour Code, all workers have the right to freedom of association. It further notes that it follows from sections 1(3) and 14 of the Labour Code that the term “worker” refers exclusively to those working on the basis of an employment contract, and that section 11 of the Code further extends the coverage of labour legislation to foreign citizens and persons without citizenship working in the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan “on the basis of an employment contract signed with the employer”. It also notes that section 4 of the Law on Trade Unions (LTU) appears to have a larger scope of application as it grants freedom of association rights to “citizens who are performing work”. Recalling that workers in the informal economy, self-employed workers and workers without employment contracts must be able to enjoy the right to freedom of association, the Committee requests the Government to indicate how the abovementioned categories of workers enjoy the rights and guarantees provided by the Convention.

Distinction based on nationality. The Committee notes that, while section 11 of the Labour Code appears to extend freedom of association rights to foreigners, under the LTU only “citizens” are granted the right to freedom of association (section 4), as well as the right to voluntarily establish trade unions to protect their legitimate interests, to join and to carry out trade union activity (section 7). The Committee further notes that the Labour Code defines “trade union” as a voluntary public association of “citizens”, connected by their common professional interests on the basis of the type of activity or study carried out, created for the purpose of representing and protecting their labour and other socio-economic rights and interests, which acts on the basis of its own charter (section 3). The Committee recalls that the right of workers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish and join organizations of their own choosing implies that anyone residing in the territory of a State, whether or not they have a residence permit, benefits from the trade union rights provided for by the Convention, without any distinction based on nationality (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 79). The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures, including through amending the LTU, in order to ensure that the right to organize is recognized for all workers, regardless of citizenship, or the absence thereof.

Police and armed forces. The Committee notes that according to the LTU, specific provisions may be established for the application of the Act “in the Armed Forces, internal affairs offices, the National Security Service, the National Guard and other military forces” (section 2). The Committee recalls that the only authorized exceptions from the scope of application of the Convention concern members of the police and the armed forces. These exceptions must however be construed in a restrictive manner and do not include, for example, civilian personnel in the armed forces and civilian employees in the intelligence services (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 67). The Committee requests the Government to indicate if civilians working in the armed forces, intelligence and other services referred to in section 2 of the LTU can benefit from the trade union rights provided for in the Convention.

Article 3. Right of organizations to organize their administration and activities and to formulate their programmes. The Committee notes that according to section 9 of the LTU, trade unions must be independent in their activities, including their financial activities, from the State authorities and must not be accountable to them nor be controlled by them, “except in the cases provided by law”. The Committee further notes that the Law on Public Associations (LPA), whose broad scope includes organizations such as trade unions (section 1), provides in its section 20 that financial agencies carry out monitoring of the sources of finances and income of public associations, the quantity of the contributions they receive and their payment of taxes. The Committee requests the Government to indicate how the monitoring provided for by section 20 of the LPA is applicable to trade unions and employers’ organizations and what obligations or control measures section 20 requires or may imply for these organizations in practice.

The Committee notes that section 20 of the LPA further allows the Ministry of Justice and its agencies to demand from the governing body of a public association an accounting of the decisions taken, to send its representatives to participate in the activities being carried out by the public association, and to receive explanations from members of the public association and other citizens concerning questions related to compliance with the public association's charter. The Committee recalls that it considers contrary to the Convention legal provisions that place organizations under the obligation to transmit to the authorities, at their request, copies of the decisions taken by the executive committees of the organizations or reports of their activities, and to assist the authorities in ascertaining whether the association is achieving its authorized purposes (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 112). The Committee requests the Government to amend its legislation to ensure that public authorities are not allowed to interfere in the internal administration of trade unions and their structures, as well as employers’ organizations and their structures. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this respect.

Right to strike. The Committee notes that while according to section 281 of the Labour Code, the procedure for resolving collective labour disputes regarding the establishment of new working conditions or changes in existing working conditions is established by law, the LTU does not explicitly provide for the right to strike. Recalling that strikes are essential means available to workers and their organizations to protect their interests (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 117), the Committee requests the Government to indicate which laws recognize and regulate the right to strike of workers, and to communicate any relevant legal texts, including the law referred to by section 281 of the Labour Code.

Article 4. Use made of the assets of dissolved organizations. The Committee notes that pursuant to section 23 of the LTU, the termination of the activity of a trade union must be carried out on the basis of a decision made by its governing body or following a judicial procedure, and that such activity may not be terminated or suspended on administrative grounds. The Committee notes that the LTU is silent on the question of distribution of assets of dissolved organizations. It further notes that section 36 of the Law on Non-Governmental Non-Commercial Organizations provides that, when a public association is liquidated by a court decision, its property may not be distributed among its members. The Committee recalls that, with regard to the distribution of trade union assets in the event of dissolution, it considers that these should be used for the purposes for which they were acquired (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 162). The Committee requests the Government to indicate how assets are distributed once a trade union or an employers’ organization is dissolved.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee invites the Government to provide statistical information on the number of workers’ and employers’ organizations registered, the sectors reached by these organizations, and the number of workers covered.