Global Rights Index

Since December 2013, South Sudan has witnessed intermittent civil war and widespread communal and localised violence. Brutal conflict has led to widespread insecurity and deteriorated food security. Thousands of civilians have been killed, while nearly four million people were driven from their homes. While many remain displaced inside the country, more than two million have fled to neighbouring countries in a desperate bid to reach safety.
In 2018, a peace deal was signed and in February 2020, a transitional government of national unity was created. However, while violence reduced in most of the country, some armed groups persisted with sporadic fighting and related abuses in parts of Central Equatoria, putting civilians at risk of injury and death.
There were reports of constant violation of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association by security forces. The rights to freedom of opinion and expression continued to be severely curtailed.

The ITUC does not have an affiliate in South Sudan.

South Sudan ratified 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
in 2012 but has not 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).

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 recognised by law but strictly regulated.

Anti-Union discrimination

The law prohibits anti-union discrimination.

Restrictions on workers’ right to form and join organisations of their own choosing

Single trade union system imposed by law and/or a system banning or limiting organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. at a certain level (enterprise, industry and/or sector, regional and/or territorial, national): The Workers Trade Union Act o 2013 imposes a single trade union system whereby only one trade union federation consisting of affiliated national unions is allowed in the country and only one union may be established in the same sector or establishment within the geographical area covered by the union. The Registrar may refuse to register a union if an existing union sufficiently represents the same sector as the proposed union.

Restrictions on trade unions’ right to organise their administration

Restrictions on the right to freely draw up their constitutions and rules: The Workers Trade Union Act of 2013 lays down strict rules concerning the constitution and organisation of trade unions, including with regard to the structure of the Workers' Federation, the administration of unions (e.g. form and functioning of the general assembly), the conditions for joining and leaving a union.

Restrictions on the right to elect representatives and self-administer in full freedom: The Workers Trade Union Act of 2013 prescribes a number of rules regarding the election of trade union officials, including the term (which is limited to five years renewable once). The WTUA also allows the authorities to interfere in the election process: according to the Act, if the registrar is of the opinion that an election in the workers’ federation or in any union was not properly conducted, the registrar may cancel the election and order a new election to be conducted within a time prescribed by the regulations.

Restrictions on the right to freely organise activities and formulate programmes: Pursuant to section 35 of the Workers Trade Union Act of 2013, "the central committee of the workers’ federation and the executive committee of every union shall each year on a date specified by the registrar present to the registrar a report containing prescribed particulars relating to the activities of the workers’ federation or of the union respectively." In addition, the WTUA prescribes strict rules regarding the financial administration of union, including by limiting the types of funds that can be received by unions. Furthermore the WTUA grants broad interference prerogatives to the Registrar into unions' finances who can call for books and conduct inspections whenever he/she deems appropriate.

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 4(2) of the Labour Act also exempts from its scope of application the army; organized forces; national security service; judges; government legal counsels; diplomatic service and constitutional post holders.

Right to collective bargaining

The right to collective bargaining is recognised by law.

Barriers to the recognition of collective bargaining agents

Absence of criteria or discretionary, unclear or unreasonable criteria for determining representative organisations: Section 87 of the Labour Act establishes a system under which a trade union that represents the majority of the workers in a bargaining unit is entitled to recognition as the exclusive bargaining agent, which is to be determined by the employer or, under certain circumstances, by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

Limitations or ban on collective bargaining in certain sectors

Other civil servants and public employees: Section 4(2) of the Labour Act exempts from its scope of application the army and national security service, including civilian personnel of these bodies, judges, government legal counsels, diplomatic service and constitutional post holders.

Right to strike

The right to strike is recognised by law but strictly regulated.

Barriers to lawful strike actions

Excessively long prior notice / cooling-off period: Pursuant to section 96 of the Labour Act of 2017, before exercising the right to strike, workers must give the other party or parties to the dispute not less than seven-day written notice of the intended strike.

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: Pursuant to section 96 of the Labour Act of 2017, before exercising the right to strike, workers must: a) take all reasonable steps to resolve the dispute with the employer in good faith;(b) take all reasonable steps to resolve the dispute through conciliation and arbitration; (c)give the other party or parties to the dispute not less than seven-day written notice of the intended strike.

Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors

Undue restrictions for “public servants”: Section 4(2) of the Labour Act also exempts from its scope of application the army; organized forces; national security service; judges; government legal counsels; diplomatic service and constitutional post holders.

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: Pursuant to the Labour Act of 2017, strikes in essential services are prohibited. "Essential service" means areas in an establishment where an action could result in a particular or total loss of life or pose a danger to public health, safety and such other services as may be determined by regulations. No regulation has been adopted in this regard.

In practice

University of Bahr el Ghazal refuses to negotiate with unions30-03-2017

On 27 March 2017, workers of the University of Bahr el Ghazal joined 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 action organised by the University trade union to protest against annulment of transport allowance that had been unilaterally decided by the University’s management in December 2016. In reaction, the management refused to engage with workers and stated that the annulment was ordered by directive from the undersecretary from the Ministry of Higher Education, since other universities were not granting their workers a transport allowance. The University’s management refused to consider the matter and directed workers to address the Ministry instead.