Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 320, March 2000

Case No 1949 (Bahrain) - Complaint date: 07-SEP-97 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 22. The Committee last examined this case at its May 1999 meeting (see 316th Report, paras. 102 to 129). It had urged the Government to re-examine Orders Nos. 9 and 10 of 1981, adopted in pursuance of Labour Law No. 23 of 1976, which dealt with the establishment of joint labour-management consultative committees (JCCs) and prescribed the terms under which the employers' and workers' representatives are elected to these joint committees. The Committee had then requested the Government to bring its legislation into line with the principles of freedom of association and, in general terms, had urged the Government to take the necessary measures so that the workers' right to organize was effectively guaranteed.
2. 23. In a communication dated 28 December 1999, the Government merely reiterates what it had stated in the past, namely that the right to organize provided for in article 27 of the Constitution is prescribed by the 1976 Labour Law and by Ministerial Orders Nos. 9 and 10 of 1981. The Government explains once again that the national trade union body is the General Committee for Bahraini Workers (GCBW) and its members are elected from JCC workers. The GCBW has the components and elements of a workers' organization and its objective is to protect workers' rights. The Government insists that the GCBW, its form and framework determined by the Labour Law, is in conformity with international labour standards as well as with the provisions of Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 and that these Conventions do not impose a special designation for workers' or employers' organizations and require to take into consideration the economic and social conditions of each country. Finally, the Government points out that the most important element in any workers' organization, whatever its name may be, is that it should aim at organizing workers' affairs, protecting their interests and endeavouring at the establishment of a genuine labour practice in the framework of the regulations in force and the established social values.
3. 24. The Committee takes note of this information and regrets that the provisions of Ministerial Orders Nos. 9 and 10 of 1981, on which it has commented for numerous years in the context of several cases, have still not been amended. The Committee still considers that there is a risk that in certain cases the workers' representatives on joint committees may not be freely elected, especially as it is the management itself that organizes their election (article 4 of Order No. 9/1981). Furthermore, the Committee recalls that articles 2 and 8 of Order No. 10 requiring that the rules for the conduct of the GCBW's affairs and any amendment to them be approved by the Ministry of Labour, as well as article 10 prohibiting the GCBW from investing its funds or acquiring assets without the prior approval of the Ministry and from engaging in political activities, are incompatible with the principles of freedom of association. Therefore, the Committee once again urges the Government to take the necessary measures to bring its legislation into line with the principles of freedom of association so that the workers' right to organize freely is effectively guaranteed. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of all measures taken or envisaged in this respect.