Rwanda

Freedom of association / Right to organise

Freedom of association

Anti-Union discrimination

Barriers to the establishment of organisations

Power to refuse official registration on arbitrary, unjustified or ambiguous grounds

To obtain registration (a pre-requisite for bargaining status), a union must be able to prove that its representatives have not at any time been sentenced to prison terms of six months or more (Art. 3(5) Ministerial Order No 11 of 07/09/2010).

Other formalities or requirements which excessively delay or substantially impair the free establishment of organisations

There is a 90-day timeframe for the authorities to complete an application for registration of a trade union (Art. 5 Ministerial Order No 11 of 07/09/2010).

Restrictions on trade unions’ right to organise their administration

Other external interference allowed by law

Unions seeking most representative status must allow the labour administration to check its register of members and property (Art. 124, Law Regulating Labour in Rwanda, 2009).

Categories of workers prohibited or limited from forming or joining a union, or from holding a union office

Other civil servants and public employees

Section 51 of Act No. 86/2013 issuing the General Statute of the Public Service recognizes the right of public servants to join any trade union of their choice, with the exception of “political office holders” and “officers of the security services”.

Right to collective bargaining

Right to collective bargaining

Barriers to the recognition of collective bargaining agents

Previous authorisation or approval by authorities required to bargain collectively

A union must be registered to obtain statutory bargaining status and must publish its articles of association in the Official Gazette to obtain legal capacity (Art. 1, Law Regulating Labour in Rwanda, 2009; Art. 7 Ministerial Order No 11 of 07/09/2010).

Absence of criteria or discretionary, unclear or unreasonable criteria for determining representative organisations

The meaning of section 93 of the 2018 Labour Code is unclear. It provides that if in an enterprise there are several employees’ organizations in a company, they team up to conduct collective bargaining. However, if they fail to team up, the organization representing the majority of workers carries on the collective negotiations on behalf of other employees’ organizations.

Restrictions on the principle of free and voluntary bargaining

Compulsory 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 and / or binding 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 procedure in the event of disputes during 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
, other than 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

The Government may intervene in the settlement of collective labour disputes, within limits established by an Order of the Minister in charge of labour, which, under section 103 of the 2018 Labour Code, determines the organization, functioning of labour inspection and procedure for labour disputes settlements. This Order has not been adopted yet.

Limitations or ban on collective bargaining in certain sectors

Other civil servants and public employees

All agents of the security services are exempt from the right to join unions (Art. 51, Law Establishing the General Statutes for Public Service, 2013).

Right to strike

Right to strike

Barriers to lawful strike actions

Compulsory recourse to 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 , or to long and complex 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 and mediation mediation A process halfway between conciliation and arbitration, in mediation a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in reaching a settlement to an industrial dispute by suggesting possible, non-binding solutions.

See arbitration, conciliation procedures prior 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 actions

There is a mandatory conciliation and arbitration process for collective disputes, which can take more than two months (Articles 143-148, Law Regulating Labour in Rwanda, 2013). The right to strike following these procedures is restricted to just two situations: (1) where the arbitration committee fails to reach a decision within 15 days, or (2) where agreements reached under conciliation procedures are not implemented (Art. 151, Law Regulating Labour in Rwanda, 2013).

Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors

Undue restrictions for “public servants”

Act No. 86/2013 issuing the General Statute of the Public Service does not include provisions recognizing the right to strike for public servants.

Discretionary determination or excessively long list of “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
” in which 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 prohibited or severely restricted

The Minister of Labour has unfettered discretion to determine both which services are “indispensable” and how the right to strike may be exercised in these services (Art. 155, Law Regulating Labour in Rwanda, 2013).