Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 333, March 2004

Case No 2161 (Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)) - Complaint date: 03-NOV-01 - Closed

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

1. 167. At its November 2003 meeting, the Committee requested the Government to inform it of all measures adopted to reinstate trade union officials José Gregorio González, Delvis Beomont and Sonia Chacón, who had been dismissed from the “Sofía Imbert” Museum of Contemporary Art in Caracas, as well as about a draft law to amend labour legislation, in particular with regard to protection against anti-union discrimination, which had been submitted to the Congress of the Republic [see 332nd Report, paras. 182-184].
2. 168. In a communication dated 13 January 2004, the Government states with reference to the situation of the former officials José Gregorio González, Delvis Beomont and Sonia Chacón, that they left their posts in 2002. These former officials voluntarily stopped working for the MACCSI, and consequently abandoned the proceedings initiated before the Labour Inspectorate where they were requesting reinstatement and the payment of outstanding wages, which is why the Labour Inspectorate did not order them. The Government also states that these former workers were paid all the benefits and other obligations to which they were entitled under their employment contracts, in keeping with the Republic’s Constitution and legislation.
3. 169. With regard to the draft law to amend labour legislation, and in particular with regard to protection against anti-union discrimination, the Government states that it put the draft law to reform the Labour Organization Act before the National Assembly, and it was approved in first discussion on 17 June 2003, while the second discussion process involving the consultation and participation of all the social partners, is under way. According to the Government, this draft law is underpinned by the recommendations formulated by the ILO supervisory bodies relating to the need to adapt national provisions to the obligations deriving from the ratification and application of Conventions Nos. 87 and 98. The draft law incorporates means of protection for workers against acts of anti-union discrimination and imposes strict sanctions on anyone violating these rights; more rapid, less rigid and more effective justice is guaranteed. The draft also restores the system of compensation for unjustified dismissal, protecting workers discriminated by the last reform of the Labour Organization Act of 1997. Mass dismissals are regulated more precisely, as are other issues.
4. 170. The Committee notes this information. The Committee requests the Government to send it a copy of the Act as soon as it is adopted.