Burkina Faso
The ITUC affiliates in Burkina Faso are the Confédération Nationale des Travailleurs Burkinabé (CNTB), the Confédération Syndicale Burkinabé (CSB), the Organisation Nationale des Syndicats Libres (ONSL) and the Union Syndicale des Travailleurs du Burkina (USTB).
Burkina Faso ratified Convention No. 87 on 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 Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) in 1960 and Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organise and 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
(1949) in 1962.
Legal
Freedom of association / Right to organise
Freedom of association
The right to freedom of association is regulated by a Labour Code.
The right to freedom of association is enshrined in the Constitution.
Anti-Union discrimination
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination, but does not provide adequate means of protection against it.
Barriers to the establishment of organisations
- Excessive representativity or minimum number of members required for the establishment of a union
- Article 28 of Law n° 10-92/ADP of 15 December 1992 on freedom of association: Workers who wish to form a trade union must “convene a constituent assembly, comprising at least 20 members”.
Restrictions on trade unions’ right to organise their administration
- Restrictions on the right to elect representatives and self-administer in full freedom
- Under the terms of Article 40, paragraph 1, of the General Statute of the Civil Service, members of the administration or management of a trade union must be Burkinabé citizens or nationals of a foreign State with which agreements of establishment have been concluded providing for reciprocity in trade union rights.
Categories of workers prohibited or limited from forming or joining a union, or from holding a union office
- Others categories
- Article 283 of the Labor Code provides that children who are at least 16 years of age may join a trade union unless their father, mother, or guardian objects.
Right to collective bargaining
Right to collective bargaining
The right to collective bargaining is recognised by law.
Limitations or ban on collective bargaining in certain sectors
- Other civil servants and public employees
- While national legislation grants civil servants the possibility of creating professional associations or unions as well as the right to strike within the framework defined by the legislative texts in force on the subject (arts. 69 and 70 of Law No. 081-2015/CNT of 24 November 2015 on the General Statute of the Civil Service), on the other hand, the right to collective bargaining for civil servants who are not part of the State administration is not expressly recognized.
Right to strike
Right to strike
The right to strike is regulated by a Labour Code.
Barriers to lawful strike actions
- Excessively long prior notice / cooling-off period
- Before giving notice of a strike civil servants must write to the Cabinet of the President of the Council of Ministers explaining the reasons, extent, duration, date and time of the strike and must respect the notice period (at least five days) (Articles 3 and 5 of Law no. 45-60 AN of 25 July 1960 regulating the right to strike of civil servants and State employees (Law45-60/AN).
Ban or limitations on certain types of strike actions
- Restrictions with respect to the objective of 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 (e.g. industrial disputes, economic and social issues, political, sympathy and solidarity reasons) - Article 5 of Law n° 45-60 /AN of 25 July 1960, regulating the right to strike of civil servants and State employees : “any strike that does not concern the defence of professional or collective interests may be banned by order of the President of the Council of Ministers”.
- Restrictions with respect to type of 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 (e.g. pickets, wild-cat, working to rule, sit-down, go-slow go-slow A form of industrial action whereby the workers deliberately reduce their pace of work in order to restrict output.
See work-to-rule ) - Article 386 of the Labour Code: «The exercise of the right to strike must not under any circumstances be accompanied by occupation of the work place or its immediate surroundings, on pain of criminal sanctions.”
Undue interference by authorities or employers during the course of a strike
- Forcible requisitioning of workers strikers (apart from cases in public 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
) - Article 384 of the Labour Code: “The competent administrative authority may at any time requisition workers from private enterprises and public services and establishments who occupy posts essential to the security of persons and property, to the maintenance of public order, to the continuity of public service or to the satisfaction of the essential needs of the community“. Article 6 of Law 45-60: “In order to ensure the continuity of the Administration, the security of persons and property, civil servants and state employees may be required to fill their posts”. Such requisitions are in principle announced “by individual order” and “if the circumstances so require, there may be a collective requisition of civil servants and state employees from one or several State administrations, services, establishments or enterprises.” The decree of December 18, 2009, issued pursuant to Article 384 of the Labor Code, lists the establishments that may be subject to requisitioning in order to ensure minimum service in the event of a strike. Certain services mentioned in the list cannot be considered essential services or require the maintenance of a minimum service in the event of a strike, including mining and quarrying services, public and private slaughterhouse units, and centers for university works.
Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors
- Undue restrictions for “public servants”
- Article 36 of Organic Law n° 036-2001/AN of 13 December 2001 governing the status of the judiciary: “Any concerted action liable to stop or hinder the functioning of the courts is banned. Magistrates are banned from exercising the right to strike.”
- Other limitations (e.g. in EPZ export processing zone A special industrial area in a country where imported materials are processed before being re-exported. Designed to attract mostly foreign investors by offering incentives such as exemptions from certain trade barriers, taxes, business regulations, and/or labour laws. s)
- Article 74 Law n° 013/98/AN of 28 April 1998, establishing the legal system applicable to civil servants and State employees: “ the right to strike is not recognised for civil servants during their probationary period”.
In practice
In the mining sector, where workers are primarily hired through temporary employment agencies and contractors, those who choose to join a union are either intimidated, transferred or fired by their employers, particularly at the mines managed by IAMGOLD SA, Bissa Gold SA, Norgold SA, Avocet Mining or Andover Mining.
The unions also denounce the attitude of employers in the mining sector and their use of delaying tactics in 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
. Similarly, the revision of the Labour Code has been dragging on for three years due to resistance from employers, who are not in favour of it, and mining companies such as ESSAKANE SA, SMB SA, SOMITA SA or SEMAFOSA refuse to renew company agreements.
Certain categories of workers in Burkina Faso, such as domestic workers, informal workers and contract workers, are not able to join a union, as they lose their jobs as soon as their employer finds out, according to the national unions. The same applies to workers employed through agencies and subcontractors. It is therefore impossible for these workers to engage in 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
or to take 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.
A peaceful march organised by over twenty civil society organisations, including trade union organisations CGT-B (Confédération Générale du Travail du Burkina) and UAS (Unité d’Action Syndicale), was violently quashed by police officers, who used tear gas just minutes after it had begun. The march was organised to denounce the mismanagement of the country. Several people were injured. According to the city council of Ouagadougou and the government of Burkina Faso, the march was illegal, because the organisers had not respected the deadline for receiving authorisation to hold the demonstration.
According to the National Building and Wood Workers Union (Syndicat national des travailleurs du bois et du bâtiment - SNTBB), employers use false pretexts to hamper trade union activity. The SNTBB reports that many employers refuse to grant workers time off, using the organisation of work as a reason. In 2017, SOGEA-SATOM, a French multinational, refused to grant workers time off to take part in an awareness-raising campaign on ILO
International Labour Organization
A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.
See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights
Conventions no. 87 and 98 organised by the SNTBB, on the pretext that the company was behind schedule on an ongoing building project.
On 6 November, a labour dispute labour dispute See industrial dispute at the International Institute of Water and Sanitation Engineering (2IE) reached a climax with the dismissal of 15 staff members, including six union representatives. The workers and their trade union, the Fédération des Syndicats Nationaux des Travailleurs de l’Education et de la Recherche (F-SYNTER), had for months been denouncing “the intimidation and threats integrated within the staff management approach”. The management refused to recognise the trade union and tried to replace it with another structure under its control. It refused to take on board the adverse opinion issued by the Regional Labour Directorate regarding the dismissal of a union representative. At the beginning of December, the authorities finally recognised the legitimacy of the workers’ claims by announcing the overturning of the dismissals.
On 23 October, at the close of 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
launched on 9 October, 110 workers were dismissed or suspended by Exterhum-Africa, the employment agency that manages personnel on behalf of the mining company Bissa Gold. In April, workers from the Syndicat National des Mines et Carrières du Burkina Faso (SNTMCB), affiliated to the Confédération Nationale des Travailleurs du Burkina (CNTB), requested an improvement in their working conditions. But this company operating in six African countries and which presents itself as “a real alternative to direct employment”, “strictly respecting the local labour and tax legislation” completely ignored the demand. The CNTB and IndustriALL Global Union called on the government to intervene, to put an end to actions considered to be violations of the ILO
International Labour Organization
A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.
See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights
Conventions on the right to organise and 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
.
On 7 May, in Bobo Dioulasso, the police expelled strikers from the Société Africaine de Pneumatiques (SAP) who had gathered awaiting a legal decision expected that day. The SAP workers, who had been 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
since 13 January, were calling for the implementation of a court decision in their favour dating back to November 2014, related to a list of demands presented in 2011.
On 11 September, around 20 civil servants from the Ministry of Finance were arrested during a sit-in being staged in the capital. Several others were reportedly manhandled by the police within the confines of the ministry. The Syndicat National des Agents des Finances (SYNAFI) said 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
was being held in protest at the failure to respect a draft agreement signed four years ago.
During the coup attempt at the beginning of September, the trade union movement called a nationwide 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
to mark its opposition to the putschists. By firmly and unambiguously condemning this attempt to overturn the rule of law, the trade unions emerged as key actors in the resistance staged by civil society. By mid November, however, employers had still not overturned the punitive measures taken against several workers who had responded to 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
call.
On 1st April, Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida launched a verbal attack on the trade unions: “The recent turn of events - disorderly 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, inopportune demands which are corporatist in name only, the occupation of workplaces and actions restricting freedom of movement - is clearly aimed at preventing the government from doing its work and, ultimately, elections from being held… All destabilisation attempts, wherever they come from, will, as of now on, be handled with firmness and responsibility.” On 14 June, Unité d’Action Syndicale (UAS), which gathers the country’s six trade union centres, responded to some extent through the speech delivered by its president, Yamba George Koanda, at the International Labour Conference. In November 2014, the Burkinabe trade union movement had welcomed the uprising in the country, hoping for a widening of democratic and trade union rights and a serious examination of workers’ concerns. But for the UAS, these concerns are being widely ignored by the transition government “… which is showing a negative face by openly attacking and threatening trade union organisations; exploiting and promoting small associations to the detriment of organisations representative of the workers, and openly supporting employers in their refusal to implement court decisions in favour of workers, etc”. In July, the UAS denounced the government’s postponement of a meeting with the trade unions that had been scheduled well in advance, the refusal by the Ministry for Territorial Administration, Decentralisation and Security (MATDS) to register trade unions following the requisite holding of congresses, on the pretext that new rules have been enacted requiring an investigation into the moral standing of their leaders, which, according to the UAS, appears nowhere in the legal texts concerning trade unions.
The Syndicat Autonome des Contrôleurs et Inspecteurs du Travail (SYNACIT) denounced the hampering of its mission and the intimidation of workers during a 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
meeting in Boulmiougou (Ouagadougou). On 24 March, the director of a consultancy company, Flash Reflections, disappeared from the meeting for a few minutes to call the local gendarmerie. Shortly after, three heavily armed gendarmes came to arrest the employees. The labour inspectors fortunately opposed the move. This is not the first such incident according to the SYNACIT.
Trade union leaders and members of several public service trade unions arbitrarily dismissed or transferred in the last few years for their trade union activities have not yet been reinstated. Several court rulings in favour of unfairly dismissed strikers were not implemented.
The Labour Code has not prevented numerous employers from suppressing trade union activities, refusing, for example, the organisation of employee representative elections. This negative climate seems to discourage employees from putting themselves forward for election for fear of reprisals. Trade union delegates’ rights are often flouted.