Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 340, March 2006

Case No 2377 (Argentina) - Complaint date: 01-JUL-04 - Closed

Allegations: The complainants allege violations of the right to collective bargaining and to strike of education workers in the public sector of the Province of Buenos Aires

263. The Committee last examined this case at its November 2005 meeting [see 338th Report, paras. 385-408], when it submitted an interim report to the Governing Body.

1. 264. The Government sent its observations in communications dated 28 October 2005 and 1 February 2006.
2. 265. Argentina has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. Previous examination of the case

1. 266. At its November 2005 meeting, the Committee made the following recommendations with regard to the pending allegations [see 338th Report, para. 408]:
2. – The Committee requests the Government to provide information as to whether regulations have been issued for implementation of Act 25877, article 24, on collective labour disputes, within the 90-day period provided for in the Act and, if not, to take necessary measures to do so.
3. – The Committee requests the Government to communicate its observations on the most recent communication received from the complainants (7 July 2005) alleging that, as a result of continued wage claims backed by direct action in 2005, the authorities of the Ministry of Labour of the Province of Buenos Aires have informed education workers of the decision to dismiss them if they exercise their right to strike for a period exceeding three days.
4. B. The Government’s reply
5. 267. In its communication of 28 October 2005, the Government states that, before referring to the allegations, it should be noted that, because of the federal system of government, provincial governments enjoy the autonomy to legislate and act with respect to their own administrations. Therefore, the national Government informed the provincial authorities of the complainants’ new allegations, so that they could provide the corresponding observations.
6. 268. In this regard, based on the information provided by the Undersecretariat of Labour of the Province of Buenos Aires, it should be noted that the complainants’ allegations are bewildering given that the case was resolved through an agreement signed by the parties on 12 August 2005. On that occasion, the members of the Frente Gremial Docente accepted a proposal put to them by the provincial government, in which the latter agreed to return the salary deductions corresponding to the days of the strike which had led to the present complaint; furthermore, these deductions are currently being returned. The agreement in question includes, among other things, an increase in the basic wage, the return of wage deductions made by virtue of Provincial Emergency Act No. 12727 and a commitment to stay at the negotiating table in order to continually and definitively improve teaching and learning conditions for teachers and students of the Province of Buenos Aires.
7. 269. With regard to the issuing of regulations for the implementation of article 24 of Act No. 25877 on collective labour disputes, the Government indicates in its communication of 1 February 2006 that the regulations will be issued after consultations with the employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Government adds that a draft decree (attached to the reply) has been prepared and is in the process of adoption. The social partners were consulted on its drafting.

C. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 270. The Committee recalls that this case concerns allegations of violations of the right to collective bargaining and to strike of education workers in the public sector of the Province of Buenos Aires. When it last examined the case, the Committee requested the Government to: (1) provide information as to whether regulations have been issued for implementation of Act 25877, article 24, on collective labour disputes, within the 90-day period provided for in the Act and, if not, to take necessary measures to do so; and (2) communicate its observations on the most recent communication received from the complainants (7 July 2005) alleging that, as a result of continued wage claims backed by direct action in 2005, the authorities of the Ministry of Labour of the Province of Buenos Aires have informed education workers of the decision to dismiss them if they exercise their right to strike for a period exceeding three days.
2. 271. With regard to the allegations that, as a result of continued wage claims backed by direct action in 2005, the authorities of the Ministry of Labour of the Province of Buenos Aires have informed education workers of the decision to dismiss them if they exercise their right to strike for a period exceeding three days, the Committee notes with interest that the Government states that the dispute has been resolved and that the parties concluded an agreement on 12 August 2005, through which the members of the Frente Gremial Docente accepted a proposal according to which the provincial government agreed to return salary deductions corresponding to the days of the strike (the agreement also provides for an increase in the basic wage, the return of wage deductions made by virtue of Provincial Emergency Act No. 12727 and a commitment to stay at the negotiating table in order to continually and definitively improve teaching and learning conditions for teachers and students of the Province of Buenos Aires). In view of this information, the Committee will not proceed any further with the examination of these allegations.
3. 272. With regard to the request made by the Committee for information as to whether regulations have been issued for implementation of Act No. 25877, article 24, on collective labour disputes, within the 90-day period provided for in the Act, the Committee notes that the Government indicates that a draft decree has been prepared and is in the process of adoption and that the social partners were consulted on its drafting. The Committee hopes that the decree in question will be enacted shortly so as to implement the provisions of article 24 of Act No. 25877 of 2004 and requests the Government to keep it informed in this respect.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 273. In light of its foregoing conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendation:
   • The Committee hopes that the Government will enact shortly the decree which is in the process of adoption with a view to implementing the provisions of Act No. 25877, article 24, on collective labour disputes, which, in its final paragraph, stipulates that “the National Executive, in conjunction with the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security and after consultation with the employers’ and workers’ organizations, will enact this article within a period of 90 days, in accordance with the principles of the International Labour Organization”. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in this respect.