Senegal - 2011

Population: 12,500,000
Capital: Dakar
The proliferation of trade union centres is weakening 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. . The issue of trade union representativeness and the holding of credible trade union elections was the subject of serious concern throughout the year. Workers were threatened or dismissed on account of their union activities or for taking part in strikes. 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 is extremely limited.
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)

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Background

Senegal, which celebrated 50 years of independence in 2010, is still one of the world’s poorest countries. Forced begging is a scourge affecting over 50,000 children.
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)
Population: 12,500,000
Capital: Dakar

reported violations- 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Trade union rights in 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 and 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 are guaranteed in the Constitution but are marred by a number of restrictions. The Ministry of Interior has discretionary powers to grant or refuse registration of a union, and the registration procedure is often very long. Collective agreements are signed between workers and employers under state 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 .

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 is heavily restricted, most notably due to a provision in the 2001 Constitution which stipulates that 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 action must not infringe upon the freedom to work or jeopardise the enterprise. The authorities also have broad powers to requisition requisition To issue back-to-work orders. workers to replace those 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 .

Additional information regarding the legislation
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)
Population: 12,500,000
Capital: Dakar

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

In practice

Representativeness, the major issue of the day: The legal haze surrounding union registration has led to all manner of confusion and abuses. Even totally unrepresentative unions have been recognised as national centres. There were 19 by the end of the year, for fewer than 500,000 salaried employees. The government has granted all of them partnership status. In some instances, unions have rejoined their former centres, but the fragmentation of the trade union movement as a result of personal or political interests lies at the root of many trade union rights violations. Many employers have exploited the flaws in the legislation to pit organisations against each other or to support bogus unions. Union activists consider the holding of union elections in early 2011 to be crucial. The trade union centres have secured their adjournment on several occasions, considering there to be insufficient guarantees to ensure their fairness. At the end of 2010, several union leaders called into question the government’s impartiality in the organisation of the ballot.
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)
Population: 12,500,000
Capital: Dakar

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Violations

Trade unionists threatened and dismissed: Several centres reported that workers were often stopped from joining the unions of their choice, faced with pressure and intimidation of all kinds at the hands of their employers. The CNTS denounced the relentless tactics deployed by the management at the paper mill SIPS (Société industrielle de papeterie du Sénégal) to stop workers from joining the national print workers’ union, the Syndicat national des travailleurs des industries polygraphiques. Two members of the agro-industrial workers’ union, the Syndicat national des travailleurs des complexes agro-industriels alimentaires, were dismissed following their election as union representatives at the CSS sugar company (Compagnie sucrière sénégalaise). At Transrail, Ousmane Sene, the deputy general secretary of SATRAIL, affiliated to the national union of autonomous trade unions of Senegal UNSAS (Union nationale des syndicats autonomes du Sénégal), was dismissed in February. The railway company had already dismissed several trade unionists during the previous year on account of their activism.
Two union leaders intimidated in turbulent telecom sector: On 13 July, following 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 at the national telecommunications company SONATEL, Ndèye Founé Diallo, a member of the Executive Bureau of the SONATEL Intersyndicale was interrogated for several hours by the Criminal Investigations Department. On 30 September, the management at Global Voice filed defamation charges against Mamadou Aidara Diop, the president of the Intersyndicale. The union leader had denounced the establishment of the U.S. group and the risk it represents for thousands of jobs, direct and indirect. At the end of December, Global Voice dropped the charges.
Forty-three workers dismissed for taking part in sit-in: Forty-three workers from the ICS (Industries chimiques du Sénégal) chemical firm were dismissed at the beginning of November in Mboro for staging “a work stoppage in blatant violation of the rules”. The workers had organised a sit-in to protest against the non application of a Memorandum of Understanding signed two years earlier.
Government interference in agricultural union movement: The confederation of autonomous trade unions of Senegal CSA (Confédération des syndicats autonomes du Sénégal) criticised the authorities’ policy of ostracising its organisation. Several of its affiliates have still not received official recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. or are excluded from consultations. The most blatant case relates to the agricultural workers’ union SCEMS (Syndicat des cultivateurs, éleveurs et maraîchers), which is still being sidelined, whilst the agricultural union set up by the government in 2009 was imposed as the only social partner throughout 2010. A government post was even created for this purpose: that of deputy minister in charge of farmers’ organisations and the unionisation of agricultural workers, held by Khadim Gueye until June.
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)
Population: 12,500,000
Capital: Dakar

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
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