Mauritius

Organization responsible for the statistics

The statistics are collected and compiled by the Labour Relations Branch of the Ministry of Labour and Industrial Relations, and published by the Ministry.

Objectives and users

Not available.

Coverage

Strikes and lockouts

The statistics cover: Working to rule, go-slows and overtime bans are not included.

Minimum threshold Duration of at least 30 minutes.

Economic activities

No particular branches of economic activity are excluded.

Workers

Workers directly involved only. In addition to regular paid employees, the statistics cover temporary, casual and seasonal workers. Unpaid family workers are not covered. Workers laid off during the strike or lockout, and workers absent on sick leave, annual leave or absent for other reasons are not included, provided that the reasons for absence were communicated before the beginning of the strike or lockout.

No particular occupational groups are excluded.

Geographic areas

Whole country.

Types of data collected

Concepts and definitions

Strike

Any action taken by a group of employees, whether or not in contemplation or furtherance of an industrial dispute and whether or not they are parties to the dispute, which consists in (a) a concerted stoppage of work; or (b) a concerted course of conduct, including going slow or working to rule, which is carried on (i) with the intention of preventing, reducing or otherwise interfering with the production or distribution of goods or the provision of services; and (ii) in the case of some or all of the employees involved, in breach of their obligations to their employer or in disregard of the normal arrangements between them and their employer.

Lockout

Any action taken by an employer whether or not in contemplation or furtherance of an industrial dispute, and whether or not the employer is a party to the dispute, which consists in (a) the exclusion of a group of employees from a place of employment; (b) the suspension of work in a place of employment; or (c) the collective, simultaneous or otherwise connected termination or suspension of employment of a group of employees.

Industrial dispute

A dispute between an employee or a trade union of employees and an employer or a trade union of employers which relates wholly or mainly to (a) a contract of employment or procedure agreement; (b) the engagement or non-engagement, or termination or suspension of employment, of an employee; or (c) the allocation of work between employees or groups of employees.

These definitions are drawn from the Industrial Relations Act, 1973.

Methods of measurement

Strikes and lockouts

The basic unit of measurement used to record a strike or lockout is the particular labour dispute and the economic unit involved. A strike or lockout that is interrupted but later resumes, still due to the same labour dispute, is treated as a new strike or lockout when it resumes. No criteria or definition exist regarding the interruption of a strike or lockout for it to be counted other than as a new strike or lockout.

Uninterrupted stoppages due to the same labour dispute, occurring simultaneously in establishments of the same enterprise or different enterprises are counted as the same strike or lockout. If the stoppages occur at different times, they are counted as different strikes or lockouts.

Economic units involved

The economic unit may be the establishment, firm, enterprise, local workplace, or the bargaining unit, which could be part of the workforce at a place of employment, and is defined as: employees or classes of employees, whether or not employed by the same employer, on whose behalf a collective agreement may be made.

Workers involved

The number of workers involved is the average of the number of daily absences during the period of the strike or lockout. Part-time workers are counted as individuals on the same basis as full-time workers.

Duration

The duration is measured in workdays from the date the strike or lockout began in the first economic unit involved to the date it terminated in the last one.

Time not worked

Total time not worked is measured in workdays by ascertaining the total amount of time not worked on each day of the strike or lockout and summing these totals. The shorter working hours of part-time workers and overtime are not taken into account in this estimate.

Classifications

Cause of dispute

Outcome of dispute

Disputes arising out of workers' demands:

Branch of economic activity

The statistics are classified according to the United Nations International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Rev. 2, 1968. Information for manufacturing is also subdivided into export enterprises and non-export enterprises. Data for widespread strikes or lockouts are not classified according to economic activity, but are shown separately.

Number of economic units involved

Number of workers involved

Duration

(in workdays)

Time not worked

(in workdays)

Reference period and periodicity

The statistics are compiled with reference to each month, quarter, calendar year and 12 months from July to June of the following year. They are published only for the period July to June. The published data refer only to strikes and lockouts beginning during the particular reference period, and do not include those continuing from the previous period.

The statistics supplied to the ILO refer to the period January to December.

Analytical measures

None.

Documentation

Series available

Not available.

Bibliographic references

Ministry of Labour and Industrial Relations: The Annual Report.

Data supplied to the ILO for publication

The number of strikes and lockouts, the number of workers involved, the number of days not worked and rates of days not worked, by economic activity.

Confidentiality

Not available.

International standards

Not available.

Methods of data collection

There is no legal obligation to report the occurrence of a strike or lockout. The statistics are collected from management, workers, unions, police or media, by informal inquiry.