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

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Rwanda (Ratification: 1988)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Adequate protection against anti-union discrimination and interference. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted with regret that the new Labour Code (Law No. 66/2018 of 30 August 2018) did not contain, beyond the dismissal of trade union representatives, specific provisions prohibiting and punishing acts of anti-union discrimination and interference. The Committee notes that the Government reiterates that Law No. 68/2018 determining offences and penalties in general provides, in its section 284, that any person vested with public authority or responsible for a public service mission who orders or personally performs an act which violates an individual freedom, except when provided for by the law, commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for three to five years. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that, as the term “public authority”, mentioned in section 284, could be understood as being restrictive and may lead to various interpretations, it will ensure that the future revision of the legislation specifically includes private employers. In view of the above, the Committee expects the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the legislation provides adequate and explicit protection against all acts of anti-union discrimination and interference affecting all private and public sector workers, including the imposition of effective and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the amount of compensation awarded by the courts when addressing anti-union discrimination cases.

Article 4. Promotion of collective bargaining. In its previous comments, the Committee had observed that, according to Ministerial Order No. 001/19.20 of March 2020 relating to labour inspection, if a labour inspector fails to settle a collective labour dispute, the inspector refers the dispute to the Minister of Labour who then submits it to the National Labour Council (section 15), which issues special regulations determining the modalities for the establishment of the arbitration committee and its functioning (section 17). The Committee had requested the Government to provide information on the special regulations determining the modalities for the establishment of the arbitration board and its functioning, to ensure that they are fully in line with the principle of free and voluntary collective bargaining. Noting with regret that the Government has not responded to the issue raised, the Committee expects the Government to provide the requested information on the special regulations determining the modalities for the establishment of the arbitration board and its functioning, in order to ensure that the rules applicable to the settlement of collective disputes, through the National Labour Council, are fully in line with the principle of free and voluntary collective bargaining established by the Convention.

The Committee had observed that the definition of a “collective agreement”, according to section 3 of the new Labour Code may be too restrictive and exclude certain categories of workers, such as self-employed workers. The Committee notes that the Government recognizes this and that it will assess the applicability of collective bargaining to self-employment. The Committee therefore expects the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that the right to collective bargaining is recognized to all categories of workers, irrespective of their contractual status and the subject covered by collective bargaining.

Recognition of organizations for the purpose of collective bargaining. The Committee recalls that section 93 of the new Labour Code provides that if 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. The Committee requests that the Government clarify the meaning of section 93 of the new Labour Code, when it refers to the majority organization, specifying in particular whether the mentioned provision requires a union to represent more than 50 per cent of the workers to be able to negotiate on behalf of all the workers, and, if so, to indicate whether, in the event that no trade union reaches the mentioned threshold, minority trade unions are authorized to negotiate on behalf of their own members.

Collective bargaining agents. The Committee had observed that according to section 3 of the new Labour Code, the elected representatives of workers may conclude collective labour agreements in the absence of trade union organizations. The Committee takes note of the Government’s indication that no collective agreement has been concluded to date by workers’ elected representatives.