Interim Report - Report No 93, 1967

Case No 494 (Sudan) - Complaint date: 20-AUG-66 - Closed

1. 328. The complaint of the World Federation of Trade Unions is contained in a communication addressed directly to the I.L.O on 20 August 1966. The Government of Sudan furnished its observations on the complaint by a letter dated 12 October 1966.
2. 329. Sudan has ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), but has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

• Allegations relating to a Threat to Dissolve the Federation of Sudanese Trade Unions
  330. 330 The World Federation of Trade Unions alleges that the Government of Sudan is following an anti-union policy and that this was demonstrated by a statement made to the Sudanese Press Agency by the Minister of the Interior, in May 1966, to the effect that the Government intended to dissolve the Federation of Sudanese Trade Unions. The Federation, states the complainant, has been recognised by law and the Government has no right to intervene in its affairs. It has a council which was elected by 118 trade unions.
  331. 331 The Government states, in its communication dated 12 October 1966, that its policy is to support trade unionism without undue intervention, to permit federations to be formed on a voluntary basis without compulsion and not to interfere with the exercise by the workers of their right to join or not to join any trade union or federation legally formed. In the view of the Government the trade union and trade disputes legislation of Sudan is among the most liberal in the world. The law also prohibits anti-union discrimination by the employers. In fact, states the Government, relations between the Government and the Federation could not be more cordial than they are at the present time.
  332. 332 The Government goes on to confirm that the Minister of the Interior did state to the Sudanese Press Agency that the Government was going to dissolve the Federation of Sudanese Trade Unions, but says that the Minister " made this statement as a politician expressing his own personal point of view " and that the statement was never discussed officially by any authoritative body. No official action, in any form whatsoever, has been taken to put this statement into effect and consequently no action has been taken to dissolve the Federation. The Federation of Sudanese Trade Unions, as well as other federations, has applied for registration and its registration certificate will be granted, states the Government, as soon as all the steps required by the Trade Unions Act have been satisfied.
  333. 333 It is clear from the Government's reply that the Minister of the Interior announced specifically to the Sudanese Press Agency that the Government was going to dissolve the Federation of Sudanese Trade Unions, but it does not seem that this threat was ever put into effect. In Case No. 415 relating to St. Vincent, the Committee was faced with a comparable situation in which the Chief Minister of St. Vincent had stated at a political meeting that a certain union would not be recognised so long as his Government remained in office, and concerning which statement the Government replied that it was necessary " to differentiate between coercive measures by Government qua government and statements made at party political meetings.". In Case No. 415 the Committee recommended the Governing Body to draw attention to the danger of statements of the kind alleged being interpreted as intended to exert pressure on workers when exercising their right to join organisations of their own choosing.
  334. 334 In the present case an important minister of the Government of Sudan made a statement calculated to cause it to be generally believed that the Government was, in fact, going to dissolve the Federation of Sudanese Trade Unions, even though this threat did not materialise.
  335. 335 In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body to draw attention, with regard to the statement by the Minister of the interior that the Government was going to dissolve the Sudanese Federation of Trade Unions, to the danger of statements of that kind being interpreted as meaning that the Government had in fact decided to enforce such a dissolution of a central trade union organisation of workers.
• Allegations relating to a Purge of the Civil Service
  336. 336 The complainants allege that the Council of Ministers approved an ideological purge of the administrative service.
  337. 337 The Government states that this allegation does not relate to the infringement of trade union rights and that, in any event, no such purge was ever undertaken.
  338. 338 This allegation is couched in extremely vague terms and no evidence of any infringement of trade union rights is furnished. The Committee therefore recommends the Governing Body to decide that the allegation does not call for further examination.
• Allegations relating to a Strike of Nurses and Hospital Workers
  339. 339 It is alleged that the police interfered in a strike called on 1 June 1966 by the Union of Nurses and Hospital Workers, in defence of their economic and social demands, and that the Minister of Health dismissed 3,500 of the strikers.
  340. 340 The Government states that the number concerned was 5,500 but that, as soon as the Minister of Labour declared the strike to be lawful, all were reinstated in their posts without exception.
  341. 341 The Committee has always applied the principle that allegations relating to the right to strike are not outside its competence in so far, but only in so far, as they affect the exercise of trade union rights. It has pointed out that the right of workers and their organisations to strike as a legitimate means of defending their occupational interests is generally recognised. In the present case it appears that the question of the legality of the strike once having been determined, all the strikers, although they were dismissed at the outset, were reinstated. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body to decide that no useful purpose would be served by pursuing further its examination of these particular allegations.
• Allegations relating to the Dismissal of Women Employees of the Posts and Telegraphs
  342. 342 Also on I June 1966, it is alleged, a strike of employees of the posts and telegraphs was called, in support of a claim for better wages and working conditions, and 93 women workers were dismissed.
  343. 343 The Government states that these persons were not dismissed because of their trade union activity or for going on strike, but were dismissed by boards of discipline, after an examination of their service records. But the Minister ordered the reinstatement of all of them, and this took effect in August 1966.
  344. 344 In this case also, having regard to the Government's statement that the 93 strikers concerned have been reinstated, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to decide that it would be purposeless to pursue further its examination of these allegations.
• Allegations relating to the Dismissal of the Members of a Workers' Committee and the Arrest of the President of the Post and Telegraph Workers' Union
  345. 345 In connection with the same strike, it is alleged, members of the workers' committee of the Post and Telegraph Workers' Union - Messrs. Mohamed Al Imen, Ramadan Ali Hussain, Athman Rahmat Alla, Mohamed Al-Hasan, Ahmed Al Badaro, Yosef Mohamed and Ali Mohamed Boknait - were dismissed. The President of the Union, Mr. Hassan Kesmel Seyed, is alleged to have been arrested.
  346. 346 The Government states that the dismissals were made by disciplinary boards and had nothing to do with the trade union activities of those concerned. Mr. Hassan Kesmel Seyed was detained by the police for 24 hours only, for a contravention of the emergency regulations in force at the time, for reasons, states the Government, having nothing to do with his trade union activity.
  347. 347 The Committee observes that, while the Government declares that the measures taken had no connection with trade union activity, the President of the Post and Telegraph Workers' Union was detained and seven named members of its committee were dismissed at or about the time when members of the union had been called out on strike. In these circumstances the Committee, before formulating its recommendations on this aspect of the case, decides to request the Government to be good enough to furnish fuller information on the matters raised, including information as to the precise reasons why seven members of the union committee were dismissed and as to the specific nature of the contravention in respect of which the president of the union was detained by the police.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 348. With regard to the case as a whole the Committee recommends the Governing Body to decide:
   • (a) that the allegations relating to a purge of the civil service do not call for further examination;
   • (b) that, for the reasons indicated in paragraphs 340 and 343 above, no useful purpose would be served by pursuing further the allegations relating to a strike of nurses and hospital workers and to the dismissal of women employees of the posts and telegraphs;
   • (c) to draw the attention of the Government, with regard to the allegations relating to a threat to dissolve the Federation of Sudanese Trade Unions, to the danger of statements of the kind admitted to have been made by the Minister of the Interior being interpreted as meaning that the Government had in fact decided to enforce such a dissolution of a central trade union organisation of workers;
   • (d) to take note of the present interim report with regard to the remaining allegations, it being understood that the Committee will report further thereon to the Governing Body when it has received the additional information that it has decided to request the Government to be good enough to furnish.
     • Geneva, 10 November 1966. (Signed) Roberto AGO, Chairman.