Timor Leste (East Timor)
The ITUC does not have an affiliate in East Timor.
Legal
Freedom of association / Right to organise
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.
Right to collective bargaining
Right to collective bargaining
The right to collective bargaining is recognised by law.
Right to strike
Right to strike
The right to strike is enshrined in the Constitution.
In practice
The East Timor Trade Union Confederation (KSTL) regrets the government’s failure to protect workers’ rights, exposing them to unfair treatment by the employers. The police intervened in trade union actions twice in 2011, yet the government did not react, either to the police violence or to exploitation by the employers.
More than 80% of the active population of East Timor work in the informal economy. Given the difficulties that workers face to find paid employment, few dare to speak out against employers. The problem is compounded by their limited knowledge of trade union rights.
The great majority of East Timor’s working age population are self-employed or work in subsistence agriculture. Given the difficulties workers face in finding a job in the formal economy, few want to risk returning to poverty by challenging an employer’s prerogatives on trade union rights, or wages and conditions of work. The problem is compounded by their very limited knowledge of trade union rights.