Venezuela
The ITUC affiliates in Venezuela are the Alianza Sindical Independiente (ASI) and the Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela (CTV).
Venezuela 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 1982 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 1968.
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.
Restrictions on trade unions’ right to organise their administration
- Restrictions on the right to elect representatives and self-administer in full freedom
- The Constitution requires union constitutions to make their leaders' mandates non-renewable and subject to a universal, direct and secret ballot. (Constitution, Art. 95) The new labour law imposes proportional representation and a uninominal voting system for union leadership elections (Art.403 of the LOTT). It also upholds the principle whereby in the event of electoral default (including in the case of appeals to the National Electoral Council – CNE) trade union organisations may not engage in collective bargaining. It also stipulates that to be eligible leaders must have convened trade union elections within the time limit when they were leaders of another organisation (Art.387 of the LOTT) and imposes a referendum to revoke their trade union office (Art.410 of the LOTT).
- Other external interference allowed by law
- (1) The Constitution provides that until such time as new laws are passed, trade union elections shall be announced, organised, directed and supervised by the National Electoral Council (Consejo Nacional Electoral, CNE). The ILO has signalled the need for the CNE, which is not a judicial body, to cease interfering in trade union elections and to no longer be empowered to annul them. It has also stressed the need for the rules governing the election of executive bodies of national trade union organisations, which accords a preponderant role to the CNE in the various stages of such elections, to be amended or repealed. (2) The new law places more restrictions on the role of the CNE than previously. However it still states that trade union leadership bodies may request its logistical support to organise elections (Art.405 of the LOTT) and the CNE shall continue to receive any appeals that affiliates might present. Furthermore, the new law obliges trade union organisations to submit a full list of members’ names to the authorities, and to provide the competent officials with any information requested in line with legal obligations (Art.388 of the LOTT). Sections 367 and 368 of the LOTTT impose arbitrary legal requirements,including imposing the principle of proportional representation or imposing upon unions duties and purposes which are foreign to their nature.
Right to collective bargaining
Right to collective bargaining
The right to collective bargaining is enshrined in the Constitution.
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 new law sets forward that, in the case of collective bargaining by industry, if the conciliation is not possible, the labour officer at the request of the parties or of its own motion, can refer the dispute to arbitration, unless the trade unions express their intention to exercise their right to strike. (LOTT, article 465)
- Authorities’ power to intervene in the preparation of collective agreements
- The new law stipulates that a proposal for collective bargaining should be done in the presence of a state official, who shall chair the meetings (Art.449 of the LOTT).
Restrictions on the scope of application and legal effectiveness of concluded collective agreements
- Authorities’ approval of freely concluded collective agreements
- The new Law provides that the Labour Inspector shall check that collective agreements are in line with the public standards governing such agreements, to ensure conformity (Art.450 of the LOTT). If the Inspector deems it appropriate, they may make observations and recommendations, to be implemented within 15 working days. (Art.451 of the LOTT).
Right to strike
Right to strike
The right to strike is enshrined in the Constitution.
Undermining of the recourse to strike actions or their effectiveness
- Excessive civil or penal sanctions for workers and unions involved in non-authorised 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 - The Penal Code penalises and undermines, through the application of penalties, the right to hold peaceful demonstrations and the right to strike and block a company's production, both of which are frequently used to support workers' demands.
Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors
- 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 - In the event of a strike, the Minister of Labour decides which areas or activities may not be stopped during the strike because of the effect on the production of essential goods and services (Art.484 of the LOTT).
In practice
On 11 June 2011, trade unionist Rodney Álvarez was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for homicide in a travesty of justice. To this day, he is still seeking a fair trial while facing dire circumstances in prison. According to national unions, the proceedings brought against Rodney Álvarez reflect the lack of separation of powers in the country and implied a clear denial of justice, with eight interruptions and up to 25 preliminary hearings, and with Álvarez having been the victim of three serious knife and gun attacks perpetrated with total impunity during the more than ten years in which he was held in pretrial custody.
On 9 June 2011, Álvarez attended a workers’ assembly on the premises of the state-owned company Ferrominera Orinoco, of Corporación Venezolana de Guayana (CVG), in order to choose the commission tasked with holding elections for the executive committee of the Sintraferrominera trade union. Renny Rojas, a 28-year-old worker for the company, was murdered in the assembly, and two more workmates were injured. Rodney Álvarez was accused of the murder, despite the total absence of evidence against him. Nothing in the judicial file confirms that Álvarez was armed, let alone that he fired the shots. The judge also dismissed all the defence witnesses who were present at the scene and who saw that another person perpetrated the killing; the statement by the National Guard officer on security duty at the enterprise at the time, who declared that he had detained that other person for firing shots, was disregarded.
Trade union centres from Argentina and Venezuela denounced the deportation of Wills Rangel, of the CBST (Central Bolivariana Socialista de Trabajadores) and Jacobo Torres, its international relations secretary, underlining the irregularities of the procedure and describing it as a violation of 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
. The trade unionists had gone to Argentina to take part in the national annual conference of the Argentinian union centre CTAA (Central de Trabajadores de Argentina Autónoma). One of the reasons for the trip was to support the demands being made by Argentine unions for the resumption of the work brought to a halt by the Argentine government, in 2015, on the tankers ordered by Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA, at the Río Santiago shipyard.
The report of the Commission of Inquiry into allegations against Venezuela, set up by the International Labour Organization
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
(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
) to examine the case of Venezuela’s independent union
independent union
A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.
See yellow union
alliance ASI (Alianza Sindical Independiente), provided details of the violation of the right to organise, covering the obstacles state bodies have been placing in the way of the union’s registration with the Labour Ministry since 2015. 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
has urged the government to take every measure necessary to ensure that union registration, both in the law and in practice, is a mere administrative formality and that prior authorisation should not be required under any circumstances.
The general secretary of the electricity workers’ union in Bolivar state, the SUTEEB (Sindicato Único de los Trabajadores Eléctricos del Estado Bolívar) was the second trade unionist from the CORPOELEC company to be found dead under suspicious circumstances within just two weeks. The first, Ángel Javier Sequea Romero, had been accused of being responsible for a blackout. The second, Francisco Alarcón Orozco, was a well-known supporter of the socialist cause. His death was classed by the authorities as a suicide of passion. The unions, however, warn that close attention should be paid to the death.
During 2017, the Labour Ministry refused to register the Central de Trabajadores/as ASI Venezuela, which was formed on 1 December 2015, and meets all the legal requirements.
The year 2017 went by without the National Electoral Council (CNE) formally acknowledging the results of the leadership elections held on 30 August 2016 by SINTRAINCES, the union representing employees at the INCES (National Institute for Socialist Training and Education), which are supposed to be published in the Electoral Gazette. On 16 March 2017, the trade union presented the Labour Ministry with its administrative accounts, the updated list of affiliates and the reform of its statutes, as required, but received no response to any of its applications. Furthermore, trade union levies are deducted from the employees’ wages but are not passed on to the organisation, and trade union leave is not granted. The INCES has refused to provide the benefits set out in the collective agreement and, in exchange, is unilaterally offering a financial consideration that does not compensate for the benefits owed.
During 2017, the serious crisis in the transport sector left over 80% of the employees out of work due to the national policies controlling the purchase, maintenance and renewal of vehicles and parts in the country. The situation is affecting cargo transport, public transport services and private businesses at all levels. The transport workers’ federation Fedetransporte has kept up its protests and demands, calling on the national government to take every measure necessary to resolve the situation, which is seriously affecting the lives and financial stability of thousands of workers and their families. The government has responded with repression. Numerous trade union leaders were detained during marches, as well as suffering repeated threats and intimidation.
On 6 and 23 June 2017, members of the union representing public servants at the National Assembly, SINFUCAN (Sindicato de Funcionarios y Funcionarias de Carrera de la Asamblea Nacional), were attacked by the National Guard whilst taking part in a protest calling for the payment of arrears in wages, benefits and settlements payable to pensioned employees. They were also protesting over the delays in providing work uniforms and safety gear, arrears in the settlements payable to workers on disability pensions and the payment of several months’ bonuses and early education services (nursery and pre-school). Several trade union leaders were left injured by the authorities’ violent response. In addition, trade union levies are deducted at source at the National Assembly but are not transferred to the trade union organisation.
In April 2015, unionised workers at Polar initiated 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 to demand the negotiation of a 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
agreement (CBA) and to protest the management’s impositions.
In June 2015, Juan Rodríguez, president of the Sindicato Único Regional de Trabajadores de Territorio Centro Polar (SINTRATERRICENTROPOLAR), together with the leader of another union representing Polar employees, Obe Villegas, launched an appeal for all unions to reject the collective agreements imposed by the company, insisting that the clauses should not be imposed from above, nor by a group of unions that have been in power for 30 years and want to pander to the bosses.
They denounced the fact that the CBA expired 18 months ago and the management has not respected the Labour Ministry’s order for it to sit down and come to an agreement with the union. For this reason, workers continued to hold staggered stoppages at the Oriente plant, Pepsi-Cola and some 40 beer distributors. They also threatened to step up their protests should the management fail to respond.
Excessive regulation results in the state having the power to accept or reject lists of demands and 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, in addition to paralysing 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
. All this, in turn, is deployed as a tactic to wear down the workers and their leaders. Illustrations include the INCES (National Institute for Socialist Training and Education), where the union completed all the formal procedures but the Ministry of Planning and the Ministry for the Social Process of Labour overran the legal time limit and delayed the start of the 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
negotiations without any justification.
Another recent example was the suspension by the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the SUTISS union elections at the state-owned company Sidor, based on a supposed violation of the internal deadlines. The private sector and opposition-led local governments also take advantage of these legal hurdles.
On 3 February 2014, José Bodas, general secretary of the oil workers’ federation Federación Unitaria de Trabajadores de Petróleos de Venezuela and nine trade union representatives were arrested by the Bolivarian National Guard for protesting the delay in the negotiation of the collective agreement and distributing leaflets at the PDVSA refinery in Puerto la Cruz, in the state of Anzoátegui. They were tried on charges of allegedly violating a security zone.
In June 2013, workers at the state iron ore company Ferrominera del Orinoco, in the state of Bolívar, staged 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
for over 10 days to demand the payment of the monies owed to employees and the reinstatement of workers dismissed. The national government responded to the workers’ action by sending the military to occupy the site. The protesters condemned the government’s action, which they labelled as a move to criminalise the constitutional 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
. Following pressure from the workers, the government ordered that the troops be withdrawn and that dialogue and negotiations be initiated to resolve the dispute, which was settled following a number of agreements between the authorities and the trade union leaders.
In October 2013, the Unión Nacional de Trabajadores de Venezuela (UNETE) denounced that the government is breaching the agreements in force. This is the case with in excess of 80% of the clauses of the 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
agreement with Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), including the payment of social benefits.
In the case of the chemical-pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical laboratories and companies SM Pharma C.A. and SM Esamar C.A. have breached their obligation to pay the benefits established in the three most recent 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
agreements: 2005-2007, 2008-2010 and 2010-2012.
The dispute procedure had to be initiated at the EFE manufacturing company because of the delay in negotiating a new collective agreement and following an almost three-week long 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
. In October 2013, the union expressed concern that the 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
process seemed to be moving towards a deterioration in the labour conditions.
In October 2013, the UNETE trade union denounced that the National Electoral Council (CNE) and the Labour Ministry were continuing their practice of interfering in trade union organisations, particularly in their election processes and through the practice by the Ministry and public services bodies of refusing to deal with organisations whose leaders they deemed elected due to electoral default. Although CNE intervention in elections is now optional according to the regulations, it remains a significant obstacle to 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 October 2013, the UNETE trade union denounced the harassment of trade union leaders by the Polar Group and its subcontractors. The company brought actions before state bodies requesting dismissals, criminal prosecutions and the filing of police complaints.
According to the UNETE trade union, murders of trade union members and leaders continued to occur in 2012 and 2013. In September 2012, a human rights organisation recorded 65 murders of trade unionists (Report by the Observatorio Venezolano de Conflictividad Social).
In September 2012, an interim injunction injunction A court order prohibiting or preventing a certain course of action, such as calling or continuing with a strike. prohibiting workers and trade unions at the Agropatria company from demonstrating was imposed by the High Agrarian Court of Aragua and Carabobo by order of the Minister of Agriculture and Land .
According to the human rights NGO PROVEA (Programa Venezolano de Educación-Acción en Derechos Humanos), over the last eight years, legislative means have been used to criminalise 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
. The group’s coordinator, Marino Alvarado, has highlighted no less than four laws establishing penalties for workers that call or take part in 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
.
On 30 July 2013, leaders of the unions at the state-owned companies Pescalba and La Gaviota denounced the militarisation of the state-owned edible oil factory “Diana”, located in the state of Carabobo. The factory was militarised when the workers rejected the appointment by the Minister of Food of a new manager.
In December 2012, workers at the Galletera Carabobo biscuit factory went 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
for nearly 3 months despite a court ruling declaring that the action violated the right to work. In total, 128 workers joined 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
to demand the approval of the collective agreement and respect for 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
.
On 21 May 2012, an armed assailant entered the EFE ice cream factory (part of the Polar group) in Caracas and asked to see Abraham Rivas, General Secretary of the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Socialistas de Productos EFE and also General Secretary of the recently created Federación Nacional Clasista de Trabajadores de Alimentos, Bebidas, Conexos y Afines (FENACTRALBECA), which organises workers in 21 different companies belonging to the Polar Group. The workers became suspicious and when they called the National Bolivarian Guard it was revealed that the man had been hired to carry out an attack on Abraham Rivas.
In March 2012, outsourced staff from the state-owned National Electricity Corporation (Corporación Eléctrica Nacional) was not enjoying the benefits of the collective agreement as they were hired directly by the Minister for Energy.
In February 2012, Elio Sayago was dismissed from his position as worker-president at the state aluminium company CVG Aluminio del Caroní S.A. (CVG ALCASA) and replaced by Angel Marcano.
In January 2012, a group of 600 workers employed at Polar accused the company of blocking salary discussions 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
.
The President of the Republic violated 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
Convention 144 on tripartite consultation, exercised political discrimination and ignored the representativeness of trade union organisations not close to the government when on 12 December he appointed a 16-member Special Commission to draft a new Organic Labour Law, all of whom are members of the ruling party. The three trade unionists on the commission are from the recently-created “Bolivarian and Socialist Workers’ Confederation” which was selected by the president.
Unjustified delays 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
negotiations were common practice during 2009, both in the public and private sectors, giving rise to many trade union protests. The delays resulted in the expiry and failure to renew many collective agreements. By June 2009, 243 collective agreements were left unsigned and over 3.500 agreements had not been discussed.