Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Kiribati (Ratification: 2000)

Article 2 of the Convention. Right of workers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish and join organizations of their own choosing. Public employees. The Committee had previously requested the Government to take measures to amend the National Conditions of Service (NCS), which provides, in its section L.7, that all employees are free to join a “recognized” staff association or union, given that there is no legislative provision relating to union recognition. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Ministry of Employment and Human Resource (MEHR) has reached an agreement with the Public Service Office (PSO), the regulator of the NCS, to remove the term “recognized” from section L.7 in the course of the amendment of the NCS. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on all progress made in this regard.

Article 3. Right of workers’ and employers’ organizations to organize their activities. The Committee had previously observed that the following provisions of the Employment and Industrial Relations Code (EIRC) could unduly restrict the right to take industrial action: approval of strike action by a majority of the employees (section 139); declaration of a strike as illegal by the administrative authority (sections 136–139); and penal sanctions in the form of fines for participation in unlawful strikes (sections 136–139 in conjunction with section 152) and had requested the Government to consider reviewing these sections. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the EIRC has been amended so as to ensure that: (i) in a strike ballot, account is only taken of the votes cast (section 139(1)(b)); and (ii) the declaration of a strike as unlawful emanates from an independent body (section 138(3)(b)). The Committee further notes that penal sanctions in the form of fines imposed in unlawful, yet peaceful, strikes were repealed and replaced with a “proportionate disciplinary sanction” (sections 136(5), 137(6), 138(5), 139(5)). The Committee requests the Government to clarify the meaning of “proportionate disciplinary sanction” and to provide information on any such sanctions imposed in practice.

Dispute resolution procedure. In its previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to amend section 128(2)(a) and (c) of the EIRC which allowed the Registrar to refer a dispute for arbitration if: (a) one or more of the parties request to refer the dispute for arbitration; or (c) if a dispute has been protracted or is tending to endanger or has endangered the personal health, safety or welfare of the community or part of it. The Committee notes with satisfaction that this provision has now been amended to provide that the Registrar may refer the dispute for arbitration only upon the request of “both parties”.