Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 374, March 2015

Case No 3077 (Honduras) - Complaint date: 22-APR-14 - Closed

Allegations: The complainant organization alleges anti-union suspensions at the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Housing (SOPTRAVI) and the seizure of union documentation

1. 424. The complaint is contained in a communication from the Independent Workers’ Federation of Honduras (FITH) dated 22 April 2014.
2. 425. The Government sent its observations in a communication dated 30 September 2014.
3. 426. Honduras 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. The complainant’s allegations

1. 427. In a communication dated 22 April 2014, FITH alleges that the employment contracts of some 2,000 workers at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Services (INSEP) (formerly the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Housing (SOPTRAVI)) were suspended for 120 days (from 1 April to 29 July 2014). This included the contracts of 55 officials and delegates of the Union of Public Workers and Employees at the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Housing (SITRAEPSOPTRAVI). The complainant organization indicates that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (STSS) was informed of the situation, but at the date of the communication, two months had elapsed without any action being taken by the Ministry.
2. 428. Moreover, the complainant organization alleges that, in the context of an audit of the STSS involving the High Court of Auditors, police and military personnel attempted to break into the FITH head office to seize all the documentation belonging to the union.

B. The Government’s reply

1. 429. In its communication dated 30 September 2014, the Government explains that by means of Decree No. 266-2013 of 22 January 2014 issuing the Act for the optimization of the public administration, improvement of citizen services and strengthening of government transparency, a re-engineering of the state apparatus was launched with a view to tackling the financial crisis. As part of the re-engineering, a number of institutions were abolished, while others were merged or regrouped. The Government indicates that in the ministries where temporary staff were employed, the competent body was requested, further to an individual audit of each worker’s situation, to suspend individual employment contracts in accordance with the law and the international treaties in force.
2. 430. In the particular case of the INSEP, a consultancy study conducted in early 2014 established that, as at January 2014, the ministry had a total of 4,679 employees. Most INSEP employees were hired on daily contracts. Furthermore, in the context of the study to evaluate the potential budgetary impact of certain human resources management measures, it was established that 78.3 per cent of INSEP employees were concentrated in three departments: the Directorate-General for Highways (a total of 1,514 employees, including 1,291 on daily contracts); the Central Activities Unit (a total of 1,227 employees, including 940 on daily contracts); and the Directorate-General for Transport (a total of 923 employees, including 873 on daily contracts). Taking account of the recommendations made in the context of the abovementioned study, INSEP submitted a request to the STSS on 7 April 2014 for the suspension of the individual employment contracts of 1,972 workers. The suspension of the individual contracts was made effective from 1 April to 29 July 2014. The Government states that, as from 30 July 2014, most of the workers whose contracts had been suspended resumed their work in full.

C. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 431. The Committee observes that the present case refers to the following allegations: (1) the suspension for 120 days (from 1 April to 29 July 2014) of the employment contracts of some 2,000 workers at the INSEP (formerly SOPTRAVI), including the contracts of 55 officials and delegates of the SITRAEPSOPTRAVI; and (2) an attempt, in the context of an audit to evaluate the financial situation of the STSS involving the High Court of Auditors, by police and military personnel to break into the head office of FITH in order to seize all the documentation belonging to the union.
2. 432. The Committee notes all the Government’s statements, in particular those explaining that the financial crisis was the reason for the request to suspend the employment contracts of 1,972 workers and that, as from 30 July 2014, most of the workers whose contracts had been suspended resumed their work in full.
3. 433. As regards the allegations concerning the suspension of employment contracts at INSEP (formerly SOPTRAVI), the Committee concludes that these are general measures affecting thousands of workers, whether or not they are union members, and that, in this regard, the situation does not imply anti-union discrimination, even if there have been problems in the employment sphere (which lie outside the competence of the Committee). However, the Committee emphasizes the importance it attaches to the promotion of dialogue and consultations on matters of mutual interest between the public authorities and the most representative occupational organizations of the sector involved [see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, fifth (revised) edition, 2006, para. 1067]. The Committee also recalls that it can examine allegations concerning economic rationalization programmes and restructuring processes, whether or not they imply redundancies or the transfer of enterprises or services from the public to the private sector, only insofar as they might have given rise to acts of discrimination or interference against trade unions. In any case, the Committee can only regret that in the rationalization and staff reduction process, the Government did not consult or try to reach an agreement with the trade union organizations [see Digest, op. cit., para. 1079]. In view of the fact that there is nothing in the information sent by the Government to suggest that the complainant organization or the trade union was consulted, the Committee requests the Government to respect, in the future, the principle of consultation of trade union organizations on matters that affect the interests of their members and to consult them in particular with regard to the consequences of programmes for the restructuring of employment or the rationalization of conditions of work of salaried employees.
4. 434. As regards the allegations concerning an “attempt” by police and military personnel to break into the head office of FITH, the Committee regrets the vagueness and lack of precision in the allegations and therefore invites the complainant organization to send more detailed information, in particular concerning the “attempt” by police and military personnel to break into the FITH head office in order to seize all the documentation belonging to the union, in the context of an audit to evaluate the financial situation of the STSS involving the High Court of Auditors.

The Committee’s recommendations

1. 435. In the light of its foregoing conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) As regards the allegations concerning the suspension of the employment contracts of some 2,000 workers at INSEP (formerly SOPTRAVI), the Committee requests the Government to respect, in the future, the principle of consultation of trade union organizations on matters that affect the interests of their members and to consult them, in particular with regard to the consequences of programmes for the restructuring of employment or the rationalization of conditions of work of salaried employees.
   • (b) As regards the allegations of an attempt by police and military personnel to break into the head office of FITH, the Committee highlights the vagueness and lack of precision of the allegations and therefore invites the complainant organization to send more detailed information, in particular concerning the attempt by police and military personnel to break into the FITH head office in order to seize all the documentation belonging to the union.