Niger

"Article 2 of the Convention. Scope of application. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to take the necessary steps to amend section 191 of the Labour Code, which provides that workers over 16 years of age but under the age of majority may join trade unions, to ensure that the minimum age for membership to a trade union is the same as that fixed by the Labour Code for admission to employment (14 years, according to section 106 of the Code). In this regard, the Committee noted the Government’s indication of its commitment to take this request into consideration when amending the Labour Code, and requested it to provide information on any progress made in this regard. Noting that the Government has provided no new information on the amendment of Act No. 2012-45 issuing the Labour Code, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in this regard."

"Articles 4 and 6. Right to collective bargaining of public servants not engaged in the administration of the State. In its previous comments, the Committee, after having noted with satisfaction the conclusion, between 2012 and 2014, of four major collective agreements concerning both the public and private sectors, invited the Government to ensure that the legislation in force is aligned with the practice concerning the recognition and exercise of the right to collective bargaining in the public sector, and to continue providing information on the number of collective agreements concluded in the public sector. The Committee notes that the Government confines itself to indicating that freedom of association is a constitutional right in Niger, the exercise of which is not subject to any restrictions, but does not provide any new information in response to the Committee’s specific requests. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to take all the necessary measures to ensure that the legislation in force is aligned with the practice and guarantees the right to collective bargaining of public servants not engaged in the administration of the State who are governed by a specific legislative or regulatory status, and accordingly excluded from the application of section 252 of the Labour Code."

"Articles 3 and 10. Provisions on requisitioning. In its previous comments, the Committee recalled that it had been asking the Government for many years to amend section 9 of Ordinance No. 96-009 of 21 March 1996 regulating the exercise of the right to strike of state employees and local authority employees so as to limit the restrictions on the right to strike to public servants exercising authority in the name of the State, to essential services in the strict sense of the term, or to cases in which work stoppages may provoke an acute national crisis. The Committee noted that, according to the Government, the occupational elections process, the purpose of which was to revive the ordinance review mechanism, was proceeding normally and that it remained open to negotiations with the social partners. The Committee therefore invited the Government to take all necessary measures to accelerate this process and requested it to provide information on any developments in this regard. The Committee welcomes the information provided by the Government, according to which, following negotiations with the social partners, it accepted a complete revision of the texts regulating the right to strike requested by the Confederation of Workers of Niger (ITN), and the two parties agreed to create a framework involving all stakeholders to steer the discussions, the results of which were to be made available and transmitted to the National Assembly, for adoption in March 2019. The Committee trusts that, in this context, the Government will not fail to take, without delay, all the necessary measures to amend section 9 of Order No. 96-009 of 21 March 1996 in light of the Committee’s long-standing comments. It requests the Government to provide information on any developments in this regard. It also reminds the Government that it can avail itself of the technical assistance of the Office in relation to the revision of the laws regulating the right to strike."