South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current ActsSchedule 11—Workers' Representatives Convention 1971
C135
Workers' Representatives Convention, 1971
The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,
Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International
Labour Office, and having met in its Fifty-sixth Session on 2 June 1971, and
Noting the terms of the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining
Convention, 1949, which provides for protection of workers against acts of
anti-union discrimination in respect of their employment, and
Considering that it is desirable to supplement these terms with respect to
workers' representatives, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to
protection and facilities afforded to workers' representatives in the
undertaking, which is the fifth item on the agenda of the session, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international
Convention,
adopts the twenty-third day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and
seventy-one, the following Convention, which may be cited as the Workers'
Representatives Convention, 1971:
Article 1
Workers' representatives in the undertaking shall enjoy effective protection
against any act prejudicial to them, including dismissal, based on their
status or activities as a workers' representative or on union membership or
participation in union activities, in so far as they act in conformity with
existing laws or collective agreements or other jointly agreed arrangements.
Article 2
1. Such facilities in
the undertaking shall be afforded to workers' representatives as may be
appropriate in order to enable them to carry out their functions promptly and
efficiently.
2. In this connection
account shall be taken of the characteristics of the industrial relations
system of the country and the needs, size and capabilities of the undertaking
concerned.
3. The granting of
such facilities shall not impair the efficient operation of the undertaking
concerned.
Article 3
For the purpose of this Convention the term workers' representatives means
persons who are recognised as such under national law or practice, whether
they are—
(a)
trade union representatives, namely, representatives designated or elected by
trade unions or by members of such unions; or
(b)
elected representatives, namely, representatives who are freely elected by the
workers of the undertaking in accordance with provisions of national laws or
regulations or of collective agreements and whose functions do not include
activities which are recognised as the exclusive prerogative of trade unions
in the country concerned.
Article 4
National laws or regulations, collective agreements, arbitration awards or
court decisions may determine the type or types of workers' representatives
which shall be entitled to the protection and facilities provided for in this
Convention.
Article 5
Where there exist in the same undertaking both trade union representatives and
elected representatives, appropriate measures shall be taken, wherever
necessary, to ensure that the existence of elected representatives is not used
to undermine the position of the trade unions concerned or their
representatives and to encourage co-operation on all relevant matters between
the elected representatives and the trade unions concerned and their
representatives.
Article 6
Effect may be given to this Convention through national laws or regulations or
collective agreements, or in any other manner consistent with national
practice.
Article 7
The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the
Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration.
Article 8
1. This Convention
shall be binding only upon those Members of the International Labour
Organisation whose ratifications have been registered with the
Director-General.
2. It shall come into
force twelve months after the date on which the ratifications of two Members
have been registered with the Director-General.
3. Thereafter, this
Convention shall come into force for any Member twelve months after the date
on which its ratifications has been registered.
Article 9
1. A Member which has
ratified this Convention may denounce it after the expiration of ten years
from the date on which the Convention first comes into force, by an Act
communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for
registration. Such denunciation should not take effect until one year after
the date on which it is registered.
2. Each Member which
has ratified this Convention and which does not, within the year following the
expiration of the period of ten years mentioned in the preceding paragraph,
exercise the right of denunciation provided for in this Article, will be bound
for another period of ten years and, thereafter, may denounce this Convention
at the expiration of each period of ten years under the terms provided for in
this Article.
Article 10
1. The
Director-General of the International Labour Office shall notify all Members
of the International Labour Organisation of the registration of all
ratifications and denunciations communicated to him by the Members of the
Organisation.
2. When notifying the
Members of the Organisation of the registration of the second ratification
communicated to him, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the
Members of the Organisation to the date upon which the Convention will come
into force.
Article 11
The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall communicate to
the Secretary-General of the United Nations for registration in accordance
with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations full particulars of all
ratifications and acts of denunciation registered by him in accordance with
the provisions of the preceding Articles.
Article 12
At such times as may consider necessary the Governing Body of the
International Labour Office shall present to the General Conference a report
on the working of this Convention and shall examine the desirability of
placing on the agenda of the Conference the question of its revision in whole
or in part.
Article 13
1. Should the
Conference adopt a new Convention revising this Convention in whole or in
part, then, unless the new Convention otherwise provides:
(a) the
ratification by a Member of the new revising Convention shall ipso jure
involve the immediate denunciation of this Convention, notwithstanding the
provisions of Article 9 above, if and when the new revising Convention shall
have come into force;
(b) as
from the date when the new revising Convention comes into force this
Convention shall cease to be open to ratification by the Members.
2. This Convention
shall in any case remain in force in its actual form and content for those
Members which have ratified it but have not ratified the revising Convention.
Article 14
The English and French versions of the text of this Convention are equally
authoritative.
Cross references
Conventions: C098 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949