Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
Population:
13,000,000
Capital: Bamako
Capital: Bamako
The workers’ trade union confederation of Mali CSTM (Confédération syndicale des travailleurs du Mali) continued to be excluded from several national tripartite structures. The cases concerning strikers unfairly sanctioned by their employers, some dating back several years, have still not been settled.
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 - 2011
Background
Fifty years after gaining independence, Mali remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Cotton, the country’s second largest export earner, after gold, employs over 25% of the active population. The adoption of the family law, set to give greater rights to women and girls, was postponed until 2011 by parliament, which wants a more widely-accepted law.
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:
13,000,000
Capital: Bamako
Capital: Bamako
reported violations- 2011
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
Trade union rights in law
Although basic trade union rights are recognised in law, a number of excessive restrictions still apply. Both the 1992 Labour Code and the 2002 Law on the General Status of the Civil Servants allow workers to form and join unions, including non-nationals but excluding top managers of the Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest.
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 guaranteed for both private and public sector workers. All workers have 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
, including civil servants, and there are no restrictions as to the form 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
. However, Article L.229 of the Labour Code grants the Minister of Labour the right to refer strikes to 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
if they are liable to “jeopardize the normal operation of the national economy or involves a vital industrial sector”. Furthermore, the categories of workers required to provide a 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
during a 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
include school principals.
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.
- >The right to freedom of association is regulated by law.
The Constitution guarantees freedom of association. Both the 1992 Labour Code and the 2002 Law on the General Status of the Civil Servants allow workers to form and join unions.
Anti-Union discrimination:
- >NO INFORMATION AVAILABLE
Restrictions
Categories of workers prohibited or limited in law from forming or joining a union, or from holding a union office:
- >Managerial and supervisory staff
- Top managers at the Banque Centrale des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (BCEAO) are not allowed to form or join unions.
Right to collective bargaining
Principles
Right to collective bargaining:
- >The right to collective bargaining is recognised by law.
Both the private and the public sector have the right to collective bargaining.
Right to strike
Principles
Right to strike:
- >The right to strike is enshrined in the Constitution.
Restrictions
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
- Article L.229 of the 1992 Labour Code grants the Minister of Labour the right to resort to arbitration to end strikes liable to cause an acute national crisis. This provision allows the Minister of Labour to refer some disputes to compulsory arbitration, not only where they involve essential services the interruption of which is likely to endanger the life, personal safety or health of the population, but also where the dispute is liable to "jeopardize the normal operation of the national economy or involves a vital industrial sector".
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
- Those required to provide a minimum service during a strike include school principals.
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:
13,000,000
Capital: Bamako
Capital: Bamako
reported violations - 2011
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
In practice
No effective protection against anti-union discrimination: The absence of legal provisions against acts of 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
continued to obstruct trade union activities. Employers were able to stop the setting up of trade union committees without even having to explain their motives. Trade union calls for the reinstatement of workers transferred or dismissed for taking part in a 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 were ignored. Such was the case, for example, at the Morila Gold Mine and the mining company BCM-Mali.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
continued to obstruct trade union activities. Employers were able to stop the setting up of trade union committees without even having to explain their motives. Trade union calls for the reinstatement of workers transferred or dismissed for taking part in a 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 were ignored. Such was the case, for example, at the Morila Gold Mine and the mining company BCM-Mali.
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:
13,000,000
Capital: Bamako
Capital: Bamako
reported violations - 2011
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
Violations
Twenty trade union representatives still awaiting reinstatement: Mining company BCM-Mali has still not reinstated the 28 workers, including 20 trade union representatives, who were unfairly dismissed in March 2009 when changes were made to the contract with the temporary employment agency Universal Prestation Service (UPS/Mali), in spite of a final ruling in the workers’ favour, pronounced on 30 December 2009. Repeated demands for their reinstatement by the national trade union confederation CSTM and the administrative authorities went completely unheeded during 2010.
CSTM excluded from Mali’s main tripartite body: The CSTM (Confédération syndicale des travailleurs du Mali) continued to be excluded from tripartite social dialogue
social dialogue
Discussion and co-operation between the social partners on matters of common interest, such as economic and social policy. Involves participation by the state where tripartism is practice.
structures, such as the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (CESC), as well as social security structures, despite several Supreme Court rulings in the trade union confederation’s favour.
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:
13,000,000
Capital: Bamako
Capital: Bamako
reported violations - 2011
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher