Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
Guinea - 2012
Population: 9,900,000
Capital: Conakry
Capital: Conakry
The eight trade union centres denounced government interference in trade union affairs. The authorities backed a splinter group of the CNTG, the main trade union centre
trade union centre
A central organisation at the national, regional or district level consisting of affiliated trade unions. Often denotes a national federation or confederation.
, on the holding of its Congress and the re-election of its executive. The CNTG general secretary, who escaped an attempt on his life, was the target of repeated threats and seven people were injured in an attack on the Labour Exchange, where the CNTG head office is based.
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 July, President Alpha Condé, democratically elected at the end of 2010, escaped an attack by military officers. The police and armed forces committed numerous acts of violence during 2011. Political and ethnic tensions remained high. The legislative elections were postponed until 2012. A new Mining Code was passed and is expected to improve the management of Guinea’s vast natural resources.
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: 9,900,000
Capital: Conakry
Capital: Conakry
reported violations- 2012
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
Trade union rights in law
While basic trade union rights are guaranteed, problematic areas exist in the law. Freedom of association
freedom of association
The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework is recognised in both the Labour Code and in the new Constitution, which was adopted on 19 April 2010. While union officials are protected 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
, the Labour Code fails to extend this protection to all workers. Workers enjoy 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 , but the right is defined as a complete cessation of work for the purpose of vindicating professional claims. This definition excludes in principle industrial action industrial action Any form of action taken by a group of workers, a union or an employer during an industrial dispute to gain concessions from the other party, e.g. a strike, go-slow or an overtime ban, or a lockout on the part of the employer. with an economic or a social dimension. Finally, compulsory 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 can be imposed in essential services essential services Services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Can include the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, and air traffic control. Strikes can be restricted or even prohibited in essential services.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
, which are broadly defined to include transportation, hospitals, radio and television, and communications.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework is recognised in both the Labour Code and in the new Constitution, which was adopted on 19 April 2010. While union officials are protected 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
, the Labour Code fails to extend this protection to all workers. Workers enjoy 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 , but the right is defined as a complete cessation of work for the purpose of vindicating professional claims. This definition excludes in principle industrial action industrial action Any form of action taken by a group of workers, a union or an employer during an industrial dispute to gain concessions from the other party, e.g. a strike, go-slow or an overtime ban, or a lockout on the part of the employer. with an economic or a social dimension. Finally, compulsory 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 can be imposed in essential services essential services Services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Can include the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, and air traffic control. Strikes can be restricted or even prohibited in essential services.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
, which are broadly defined to include transportation, hospitals, radio and television, and communications.
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, but does not provide adequate means of protection against it.
Restrictions
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 not protected in law.
Right to strike
Principles
Right to strike:
- >The right to strike is enshrined in the Constitution.
Restrictions
Ban or limitations on certain types of strike actions:
- >Restrictions with respect to the objective of a strike (e.g. industrial disputes, economic and social issues, political, sympathy and solidarity reasons)
Undue interference by authorities or employers during the course of a strike:
- >Authorities' or employers' power to prevent or end a strike by referring the dispute to arbitration
- Employers can impose binding arbitration.
Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors:
- >Discretionary determination or excessively long list of "essential services" in which the right to strike is prohibited or severely restricted
- Compulsory arbitration can be imposed in essential services, which are broadly defined to include transportation, hospitals, radio and television, and communications.
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: 9,900,000
Capital: Conakry
Capital: Conakry
reported violations - 2012
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
No entry for this country for this year
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: 9,900,000
Capital: Conakry
Capital: Conakry
reported violations - 2012
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
Violations
Government interference and criminal attacks on CNTG general secretary and head office:
The results of the National Confederation of Guinean Workers (CNTG) congress, held on 24 September, were contested by a group of dissidents, who convened their own congress two days later. According to several reports, most of those taking part in it were not official representatives of the organisation’s grassroots unions. The dissidents’ congress was broadcast on national television, which made no mention of the legitimate congress held on 24 September.
At the beginning of October, an ITUC mission went to Guinea to listen to the two parties. It concluded that the first congress and the executive it elected were legitimate. The ITUC delegation called for a dialogue between the two parties, to no avail.
At around midnight on the day following the ITUC mission’s departure, on 8 October, four hooded men in military uniforms attacked the home of the CNTG general secretary, Amadou Diallo. They started to fire shots from outside the building, leading the two guards to shoot back. The assailants finally fled after a heavy exchange of fire. Amadou Diallo had in the meantime escaped through the back of the property, climbing over a wall topped with broken glass, leaving him with serious cut wounds. The violence used in the attack leaves no room for doubt that the assailants intended to kill the trade union leader.
Amadou Diallo reported that he has received several death threats by telephone since his election at the end of September as the general secretary of the CNTG, as have other leaders of the organisation. Renewed acts of violence were seen on 17 October. A group of armed people stormed the Labour Exchange housing the CNTG head office in a bid to take over the premises by force and oust the leaders elected by the congress, causing substantial material damage and seriously injuring seven people. The CNTG had alerted the authorities at the first signal that an attack was being planned but, for reasons unknown, they took no preventative action. The police only intervened at the end of the attack and did not arrest any of the assailants.
The CNTG pressed charges with the police, presenting a list of the attackers identified. Action against unknown persons was also filed for the attempted murder of the general secretary. Various factors point to a link between the contesting of the results of the congress and these serious acts of violence.
Also in October, the governor of Conakry asked the leadership of the CNTG to hand back the keys of the Labour Exchange. The leadership refused, stating its reasons. In addition, the dissident group went to the labour court to request that the congress be nullified and the CNTG head office be closed. The CNTG contested that the court was not competent to rule on this matter, basing its argument on several articles of the labour law. Against all expectations, the court ruled that the elections held by both congresses were irregular, thus paralysing the operations of the CNTG. One of the CNTG’s bank accounts was frozen. CNTG members met with obstacles in a series of prefectures when trying to return the congress results to the members. Moreover, during recent tripartite negotiations on workers’ purchasing power, a representative of the dissident group was reportedly admitted by the authorities as an advisor.
The seven other trade union centres (USTG-ONSLG-UDTG-CGSL-CGTG-UGTG-SIFOG) declared their solidarity with the CNTG. They also denounced the court ruling and the authorities’ interference in trade union affairs. At the end of 2011, the CNTG, which had appealed against the labour court ruling, was still occupying its offices at the Labour Exchange.
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: 9,900,000
Capital: Conakry
Capital: Conakry
reported violations - 2012
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher