Right to Organise in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Nepal & Philippines

Abstract

The freedom of association and the rights to organise and bargain collectively are fundamental rights. These are rooted in the ILO Constitution and the Declaration of Philadelphia, which is annexed to the ILO Constitution.1 The freedom of association is also proclaimed under the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. The rights are enshrined in the 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. ILO refers to these as enabling rights, allowing the promotion and realisation of decent working conditions. The study, commissioned by SASK, focuses on the right to organise and negotiate in health and commerce sectors in selected countries, namely Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Nepal, and the Philippines. The study limits itself to the key aspects of freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, which include the following:
1. Relevant ILO Conventions and their incorporation in the national legislation (C087, C098; C149; C151)
2. Right to organise (in law) for general and healthcare workers
3. Information on trade unions and their membership
4. Right to collective bargaining (in law) and detailed information on collective agreements as well as their scope
5. Health sector specific questions on the right to organise and collective bargaining (negotiation).

The current study involves the compilation of information on rights to organise and negotiate in five countries, in terms of the law as well as in practice. The work was initiated with a table of ratifications for the following four conventions.
1. C087 - Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87)
2. C098 - Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98)
3. C149 - Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149)
4. C151 - Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151)

For the purpose of this study, it was checked if these conventions are ratified by the countries covered under this study. The next step was to check the observations and direct requests of the ILO’s Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations6, the country’s Constitution and relevant labour legislation regarding provisions on trade union rights. Such information is already available under the WageIndicator Labour Law Database and ILO. In order to understand trade union rights from a de-jure perspective, a detailed analysis of labour legislation was conducted.

In order to understand the on-ground situation on labour rights, we used the ITUC’s Global Rights Index, USDOS’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and SDG indicator 8.8.2. Similarly, in order to understand the in-practice situation of FOA&CB rights, the study considered country cases before the ILO’s Committee on Freedom of Association. Other than these sources, WageIndicator contracted seven independent researchers to conduct more in-depth research in the countries. The researchers did a combination of additional desk research, focus groups with trade unions and workers representatives, interviews with trade unions and worker representatives and a small survey (specifically for Nepal), in order to understand the situation and corroborate the information collected through desk research. For health sector specific information, interviews were conducted with local experts.

The results from the combined research methods can be found in the detailed country reports. Transcripts, recordings and additional study material is with WageIndicator and is available upon request. The results from the research in countries showed that follow-up research with government bodies, unions and often specific people in occupations is needed to fully understand all issues. These issues include, but are not limited to questions around the exact number of collective bargaining agreements that exist within countries, and the exact demands for nurses and other occupations. The table below shows a list of the main and key informants for the research in the countries. More people were consulted than listed below, but not everyone wanted to be mentioned in this study.

This study on the Right to Organise in the health and commerce sectors of Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Nepal and the Philippines, was funded by the Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland “SASK”.
WageIndicator would like to thank SASK’s contacts through trade union partner PSI and WageIndicator in-country researchers for their thorough research, contacts and overviews of the country reports: Claudia de Fatima dos Santos, María Soledad Rodriguez, Jane Lynn Capacio, Rolando (Bobbit) Librojo, Sachin Tiwari, Karina Maharjan, and Luis Eduardo Palma. Similarly, WageIndicator would like to thank its team at the Islamabad Office for their desk research: Iftikhar Ahmad, Ambreen Riaz, Nasir Zaman and Tasmeena Tahir.