Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
Chad - 2012
Population: 11,200,000
Capital: N'Djamena
Capital: N'Djamena
The oil sector was the scene of persistent labour and trade union rights violations. Subcontractors and employment agencies, abetted by ESSO-Chad and China National Petroleum Corporation International (CNPCI), refused to negotiate with the unions. The authorities also offered their support, intervening to repress strikes.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
reported violations - 2012
Background
In May, President Idriss Deby Itno, who came to power in a coup in 1990, was re-elected for a fourth term, garnering 88% of the vote in a poll boycotted by the opposition. His party, the Mouvement patriotique du salut (MPS), had secured a large majority in the legislative elections in February. The oil boom in Chad, one of the world’s poorest countries, has not yet benefitted the population at large. The easing of relations with Sudan reduced the number of clashes and abuses in the east of the country.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 11,200,000
Capital: N'Djamena
Capital: N'Djamena
reported violations- 2012
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
Trade union rights in law
Basic trade union rights are frustrated by interference by the authorities. Although the Labour Code protects unions against anti-union discrimination
anti-union discrimination
Any practice that disadvantages a worker or a group of workers on grounds of their past, current or prospective trade union membership, their legitimate trade union activities, or their use of trade union services. Can constitute dismissal, transfer, demotion, harassment and the like.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
, it also obliges them to provide financial statements and receipts whenever labour inspectors so request.
The right to 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
is enshrined in the Labour Code, which nevertheless allows for some government intervention. Finally, the Law of 9 May 2007 circumscribes the right to strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
in the public sector. All industrial disputes must be submitted to the Conciliation
conciliation
An attempt by a neutral third party, a conciliator, to aid the settling of an industrial dispute by improving communications, offering advice and interpreting issues to bring the disputing parties to a point where they can reconcile their differences. The conciliator does not take as active a role as a mediator or an arbitrator.
See arbitration, mediation
Council established by the Law, and unions must announce the length of the strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
prior to taking action. The authorities can unilaterally determine the extent of the minimum service
minimum service
The operations needed in a public or private establishment during a strike, normally to avoid compromising the life or basic needs of the population or causing irreversible damages.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
in services deemed “essential” and the number of employees required, and are also permitted to requisition
requisition
To issue back-to-work orders.
workers.
Freedom of association / Right to organize
Principles
Freedom of association :
- >The right to freedom of association is enshrined in the Constitution.
- >The right to freedom of association is regulated by a Labour Code.
Anti-Union discrimination:
- >The law prohibits anti-union discrimination.
The Labour Code protects unions against anti-union discrimination and stipulates measures concerning the protection of workplace representatives and the facilities to be granted to them.
Restrictions
Restrictions on trade unions' right to organize their administration:
- >Restrictions on the right to freely organise activities and formulate programmes
- The Labour Code stipulates that unions must present their financial accounts and the corresponding receipts without delay at the request of a labour inspector. According to the ILO, this provision could be used as the basis for acts of government interference in trade union activities.
Categories of workers prohibited or limited in law from forming or joining a union, or from holding a union office:
- >Armed forces
Right to collective bargaining
Principles
Right to collective bargaining:
- >The right to collective bargaining is recognised by law.
The Labour Code of 1996 specifically recognises the right to collective bargaining, but does allow for some government intervention.
Right to strike
Principles
Right to strike:
- >The right to strike is enshrined in the Constitution.
- >The right to strike is recognised in the Labour Law.
Restrictions
Legal barriers to lawful strike actions:
- >Other excessively complex or time-consuming formalities to call a strike
- The law of 9 May 2007 regulating the right to strike in public services established a Conciliation Council whose composition is determined by the government and to which all collective disputes must be submitted. This mandatory procedure considerably lengthens the period before a strike can start.
- >Other undue, unreasonable or unjustified prerequisites
- The law of 9 May 2007 regulating the right to strike in public services also requires the "possible" duration of a strike to be declared, even though, according to the ILO, unions should have the right to call unlimited strike action.
Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors:
- >Discretionary determination or excessively long list of "services of public utility" in which a minimum operational service is can be imposed in the event of strikes
- The list of public services considered "essential" has been significantly extended. Workers in the broadcasting industry, the postal services, abattoirs and nine more categories of services may be "requisitioned" by the relevant ministerial authorities as well as by local authorities. It should be noted that strikes are permitted in these sectors providing that a minimum service is ensured, but it is up to the public authorities to determine, at their own discretion, the minimum services to be provided and the number of employees required to ensure them.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 11,200,000
Capital: N'Djamena
Capital: N'Djamena
reported violations - 2012
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
In practice
Social dialogue at a standstill: The two main trade union centres, forming a common front, denounced the government’s total disregard for the demands presented by workers. Among them is the demand for a public sector pay review, which the government had pledged in 2007 to conduct as soon as the financial situation allowed for it. The state’s resources have, in the meantime, tripled, if not quadrupled. On 11 November, after three strikes, the head of state finally agreed to meet with trade union leaders and satisfy some of their demands.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 11,200,000
Capital: N'Djamena
Capital: N'Djamena
reported violations - 2012
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
Violations
Oil field workers intimidated and threatened with dismissal:
Striking workers at Catering International Services (CIS) reported that they had been faced with threats and intimidation at the hands of their employer and ESSO-Chad. The 480 workers employed by this French company subcontracted to provide catering, lodging and other services had staged a warning strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
from 15 to 17 May. Faced with the employers’ refusal to negotiate better working conditions, they went on to step up their action on 21 May. The employer, ESSO management, security officers and the police tried to move the strikers out of the camp on several occasions. On 13 June, CIS had them issued with a list of the people suspended and threatened with dismissal; the strikers disregarded it, considering their protest to be legal and legitimate. For several days, the security stopped any supplies being brought in to cover the strikers’ basic needs.
On 18 June, an agreement was reached after tough negotiations between the employer, the Labour Minister and the oil sector union affiliated to the Union des syndicats du Tchad (UST), PETROSYNAT, meeting some of the strikers’ demands and enabling a return to work.
Negotiations endlessly postponed: In August, Chadian workers employed at China National Petroleum Corporation International (CNPCI) went on strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike for several days in protest at the management’s refusal to hold negotiations, despite the commitment made at the end of 2010 to open a dialogue with workplace representatives as soon as production was launched in July. The workers’ grievances were only partially addressed in the end. Ramadji Naorngué, a workplace representative, denounced the Chinese group and the subcontractors, which “come here and take away almost half of the employees’ wages, not even leaving them enough to live on.”
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike for several days in protest at the management’s refusal to hold negotiations, despite the commitment made at the end of 2010 to open a dialogue with workplace representatives as soon as production was launched in July. The workers’ grievances were only partially addressed in the end. Ramadji Naorngué, a workplace representative, denounced the Chinese group and the subcontractors, which “come here and take away almost half of the employees’ wages, not even leaving them enough to live on.”
Former TCC employees brutalised and arrested: Former employees of Tchad Cameroon Constructor (TCC), previously subcontracted by ESSO-Chad, protested on several occasions in front of government ministries and the oil facilities to demand their wage arrears. Their sit-ins were repeatedly dispersed with brutal force. On 9 November, for example, according to the umbrella group of human rights associations ADH, 19 people were injured in demonstrations in Doba and Bébidja and police made 18 arrests. Earlier in the month, on the night of 4 to 5 November, two trade union representatives, Boukar Barka, general secretary of the Confédération syndicale du Tchad, and Mangaral Nadjiam, president of the association of former oil field construction workers, were arrested. Mangaral Nadjiam was released the following day, but Boukar Barka was imprisoned for over 40 days for supporting former TCC workers.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 11,200,000
Capital: N'Djamena
Capital: N'Djamena
reported violations - 2012
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher