Violations
Union busting at transport company EPPO S.A.: During 2010, unionised workers at the EPPO S.A. transport firm in Talara staged protests over the incessant dismissals of trade union leaders and members since the formation of their union in December 2009. In addition to opposing the organisation’s structure, the company deployed a range of anti-union practices, such as changing the working conditions of unionised workers, making them wear different uniforms to be able to identify them, and threatening to dismiss them unless they left the union.
Collective bargaining rights seriously violated at Telefónica: Thirty seven collective negotiations with subsidiary companies created by Telefónica in Peru have been deadlocked since 2006. These parallel companies are in charge of various operations owned by the Spanish multinational Telefónica, but outsource them so as to free themselves of any labour or social obligations. The companies and CONFIEP, the national confederation of private businesses representing them, are refusing to negotiate the working conditions of some 12 million workers. The Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion (MTPE) has allowed this situation to persist, taking no action to protect the workers’ rights. In 2010, the ITUC, TUCA and trade union organisations from Spain and other parts of the world launched initiatives to tackle the serious violations committed by the multinational.
Collective bargaining rights violated in public sector: Although Peru has ratified ILO
International Labour Organization
A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.
See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights
Convention 98, the government refuses to negotiate working conditions with state employees. The tax authority employees’ union SINAUT-SUNAT (Sindicato de Unidad de Trabajadores de la Superintendencia Nacional de Administración Tributaria) has not been able to negotiate labour conditions despite regularly presenting lists of demands since 2007. In 2010, the ILO
International Labour Organization
A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.
See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights
, in its conclusions regarding case 2690, determined that “the impossibility of negotiating wage increases on an ongoing basis is contrary to the principle of free and voluntary collective bargaining
collective bargaining
The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
enshrined in Convention No. 98 and requests the Government to promote appropriate mechanisms so that the parties may conclude a collective agreement in the near future”.
The administration also refuses to recognise trade union leave and to negotiate the conditions of public employees working in the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, who have not received a pay rise for over 18 years. Workers affiliated to the SITRA-ZRNXII union, representing tax employees at Registry Zone XII in Arequipa, faced similar problems. The tax authority has been refusing to hold collective negotiations since 2007, and is refusing to comply with the arbitration
arbitration
A means of resolving disputes outside the courts through the involvement of a neutral third party, which can either be a single arbitrator or an arbitration board. In non-binding arbitration, the disputing parties are free to reject the third party’s recommendation, whilst in binding arbitration they are bound by its decision. Compulsory arbitration denotes the process where arbitration is not voluntarily entered into by the parties, but is prescribed by law or decided by the authorities.
See conciliation, mediation
ruling of 2006. Likewise, members of SUTCORAH, the union of workers employed by the CORAH special project, linked to the Interior Ministry, faced anti-union dismissals and the government’s refusal to hold collective negotiations on their working conditions.
