Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Gabon (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee recalls that, further to the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Education International (EI), it requested the Government: (i) to provide detailed information on the number of strikes called in the public sector, the sectors concerned and the number of strikes prohibited on the grounds of a possible disruption of the public order; and (ii) to indicate the measures taken in the education sector to ensure that trade unions have access to educational establishments so that they can perform their representative functions and defend their members’ interests. Noting with regret that the Government has not provided detailed information in response to the requests it has been making for many years and merely reiterates that the right to strike is protected by the Constitution and the applicable legislation, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide the requested information.

Article 2. Trade union rights of minors. The Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 307 of the Labour Code, which provides that minors over the age of 16 may join an organization of their own choosing unless such membership is opposed by their legal representatives, which runs counter to Article 2 of the Convention. Noting that the Government merely indicates that this will be taken into account in the upcoming revision of the Labour Code, the Committee once again invites the Government to immediately take measures to amend section 307 of the Labour Code to allow minors to join an organization of their own choosing, on attaining the minimum working age, without authorization on the part of their parents or guardians.

Article 3. Right of organizations to elect their representatives in full freedom. The Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 305 of the Labour Code of 2021, which provides that members of the executive board of a trade union that are of foreign nationality must have resided in Gabon for five consecutive years and exercised a defined professional activity during that period, while the requirement under the previous Labour Code was 18 months’ residence. While noting the Government’s indication that this will be taken into account in the upcoming revision of the Labour Code, the Committee wishes to recall, once again, that national legislation should allow foreign workers to take up trade union office, at least after a reasonable period of residence in the host country. For example, it considered that a requirement of a period of residence of three years could be considered as being reasonable (2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, para. 103). In the light of the above, the Committee once again requests the Government to consider taking measures to amend section 305 of the Labour Code.

Negotiated minimum service. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 385 of the Labour Code of 2021, which provides for a mandatory minimum service for all enterprises on declaration of strike action, when the maintenance of minimum services in the event of strikes should only be possible in certain situations. The Committee notes the Government’s indications that the terms and conditions for implementing a minimum service are under review and that the minimum service requirement is not intended to restrict the right to strike but to take into account the satisfaction of certain vital needs.

The Committee wishes to recall that the maintenance of minimum services in the event of strikes should only be possible in certain situations, namely: (i) in services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population (or essential services “in the strict sense of the term”); (ii) in services which are not essential in the strict sense of the term, but in which strikes of a certain magnitude and duration could cause an acute crisis threatening the normal conditions of existence of the population; and (iii) in public services of fundamental importance. The Committee also recalls that such a service should meet at least two requirements: (i) it must genuinely and exclusively be a minimum service, that is, one which is limited to the operations which are strictly necessary to meet the basic needs of the population or the minimum requirements of the service, while maintaining the effectiveness of the pressure brought to bear; and (ii) since this system restricts one of the essential means of pressure available to workers to defend their interests, their organizations should be able, if they so wish, to participate in defining such a service, along with employers and the public authorities (2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paras 136–137). In the light of the above, the Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend the provisions of section 385 as indicated.

Regretting, once again, that the adoption of the new Labour Code did not provide the opportunity to ensure greater conformity between its provisions and the requirements of the Convention, the Committee trusts that the Government will do its utmost to take the necessary measures in the near future and requests it to indicate any developments in this regard.