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Argentina, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Fiji and Peru were singled out by the Committee on Freedom of Association of the UN International Labour Organisation (ILO). Committee members reviewed cases involving rights to organise, negotiation through collective bargaining and engagement in social dialogue, on 1-16 November in Geneva.

The ILO established the Committee on Freedom of Association in 1951 to examine complaints about violations of freedom of association, whether or not the country concerned had ratified a related international convention. It comprises an independent chairperson and three representatives each of governments, employers, and workers. EI has already submitted over a dozen complaints to the Committee on behalf of its affiliates.

“The Committee considers it necessary to draw the special attention of the (ILO) Governing Body to five country-cases because of the extreme seriousness and urgency of the matters dealt with therein,” the Committee said in a 400-page report tabled at the meeting.

Fiji: union leader dismissed

In relation to Fiji, EI, its affiliate FTA and the ITUC lodged a complaint following the dismissal of a trade union leader in the public education sector and ongoing anti-union harassment and interference with internal trade union affairs. Tevita Koroi, head of the Fijian Teachers’ Association, was dismissed in 2008.

Following the EI complaint, the ILO has consistently requested the Government to ensure that the teacher union leader be immediately reinstated to his former position as a school principal without loss of pay or benefits. As regards the infringement of trade union rights by executive decrees, especially targeting workers in the public service, the ILO urged the Government to take all necessary measures to ensure that public servants enjoy the guarantees enshrined in Convention 87 on freedom of association, to amend the relevant decrees without delay so as to guarantee access to courts, and to ensure that prior consultations are undertaken with the relevant trade unions on proposed legislation affecting trade union rights.

The ILO Committee called upon the Government to undertake independent investigations into the allegations of physical assault, harassment and intimidation of trade union leaders and members.

The Committee also asked the Government of Fiji to “rapidly discuss the return of an ILO Direct Contacts Mission” to the country. Last September, the Fijian government had stopped the ILO from carrying out a mission to verify complaints over the lack of freedom of association made by local trade unions.

Ethiopia: union not recognised

The ILO Committee also “regretted” that Ethiopia’s National Teachers Association (EI member NTA) had still not been registered, despite depositing its registration request four years ago. The ILO “strongly urged the Government to ensure that the appropriate authorities register the NTA in order to fully guarantee the freedom of association rights of civil servants, including teachers in public schools”.

Cambodia: murder of union leaders

With regards to Cambodia, the ILO case relates to the murders of trade union leaders Chea Vichea, Ros Sovannareth and Hy Vuthy between 2004 and 2007. The Committee continued to strongly urge the Government to take measures to ensure that the trade union rights of all workers in Cambodia are fully respected and that trade unionists are able to exercise their activities in a climate free of intimidation and risk to their personal security and their lives, and that of their families.

Peru: allegations of union leader murder

The ILO case from Peru concerned allegations around a trade union leader’s murder in 2008 in clashes with police during a mining sector protest.

Argentina: workers murdered

For Argentina, the Committee dealt with the murder of four workers and the injury of two others during the eviction of over 500 workers demanding decent housing from a construction site in Mar del Plata in 2009. In both cases, the Committee recalled the importance of an immediate and independent judicial inquiry in such cases to clarify the facts, determine responsibility, punish those responsible and prevent the repetition of such acts.

Greece: collective bargaining interference

The ILO Committee on Freedom of Association also examined the complaint submitted by the Greek unions concerning austerity measures taken in Greece over the last two years. “While deeply aware that these measures were taken within a context qualified as grave and exceptional, provoked by a financial and economic crisis,” the Committee found that “there were a number of repeated and extensive interventions into free and voluntary collective bargaining and an important deficit of social dialogue.”

The Committee highlighted the “need to promote and strengthen the institutional framework for these key fundamental rights”. The Committee expects that Greece’s social partners will be fully involved in the determination of any further alterations within the framework of the agreements with the Troika that touches upon matters core to the human rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining.