Freedom of Association
Database 2024

Freedom of Association
Indicator
Freedom of Association
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LRI 2024
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Bolivia

Freedom of Association Indicator

The Labour Rights Index 2024 (LRI 2024) is a de-jure index covering 145 economies and structured around the working lifespan of a worker. In total, 46 questions or evaluation criteria are scored across 10 indicators. The overall score is calculated by taking the average of each indicator, with 100 being the highest possible score. The Index uses a rating system, ranging from “Total Lack of Decent Work” to “Decent Work”. The Labour Rights Index aims at an active contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, by providing necessary (complementary) insights into de jure provisions on issues covered in particular by SDG8 (Decent Jobs), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and SDG 16 (Strong Institutions). The Index is based on national labour legislation, applicable on 1 January 2024.

Bolivia’s overall score is 64 out of 100. The overall score for Bolivia is lower than the regional average observed across Latin America and The Caribbean (73). Within Latin America and The Caribbean, the highest score is observed in Brazil (85.5).

Bolivia (Plurinational State of) ratified Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) in 1965 and Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) in 1973.

Labour Rights Index 2024

64/100

LRI Country Score

0/100

Freedom of Association Indicator

12.05 %

Trade union density rate (%)

. %

Collective bargaining coverage rate (%)

3.12

SDG indicator 8.8.2

3

ITUC Global Rights Index 2024 Ratings

Question

Answer

Score

Legal Basis

More Info

Does the law allow workers to form and join unions of their own choice?

No

0

§104 of the General Labour Act, 1939; ITUC Global Rights Index 2024 (Bolivia Profile); USDOS CRHRP 2023 (Bolivia)

A,C,D

Does the law allow workers to bargain collectively with employers through their representative unions?

No

0

§104 of the General Labour Act, 1939; CEACR C98 Obs. 2023; ITUC Global Rights Index 2024 (Bolivia Profile)

A,B,C

Does the law provide for the right to strike?

No

0

§114 of the General Labour Act, 1939; CEACR C87 Obs. 2023

A,B

Does the law prohibit imposing of excessive sanctions against striking workers?

No

0

CEACR C87 Obs. 2023; §234 of the Penal Code of Bolivia,1997

A,B

Textual sources

A : National Law

National Labour Legislation

B : CEACR

CEACR: ILO Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations (latest report)

C : ITUC

ITUC: ITUC Global Rights Index

D : USDOS

USDOS: US Department of States' Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

LRI Country Score
The Labour Rights Index has 10 indicators and 46 sub-indicators. The LRI Country score averages 10 indicators and ranges between 0 and 100. The lowest and highest scorers are Nigeria (29/100) and Belgium/Greece (96/100). https://labourrightsindex.org/  

Freedom of Association Indicator
The Freedom of Association indicator is composed of 4 sub-indicators. Scoring is done through the binary method (0 or 1). The score ranges between 0-100. 

Trade union density rate (%)
The trade union density rate conveys the number of union members who are employees as a percentage of the total number of employees in the country. For updated statistics on trade union density, please check ILOSTAT. 

Collective bargaining coverage rate (%)
The collective bargaining coverage rate conveys the number of employees whose pay and/or conditions of employment are determined by one or more collective agreement(s) as a percentage of the total number of employees in the country. For updated statistics on collective bargaining coverage, please check ILOSTAT. 

SDG indicator 8.8.2
SDG indicator 8.8.2 measures national compliance with fundamental labour rights (freedom of association and collective bargaining or FACB). It ranges from 0 to 10, with 0 being the best possible score (indicating higher levels of compliance with FACB rights) and 10 the worst (indicating lower levels of compliance with FACB rights). It is based on six ILO supervisory body textual sources and national legislation.
For an updated assessment on SDG indicator 8.8.2, please check ILOSTAT. 

ITUC Global Rights Index 2024 Ratings
The ITUC Global Rights Index depicts the world’s worst countries for workers by rating 148 countries on a scale from 1 to 5+ on the degree of respect for workers’ rights. Violations are recorded each year from April to March.  For a detailed description of ratings and methodology, please follow the link. 

Information

Source: §104 of the General Labour Act, 1939; ITUC Global Rights Index 2024 (Bolivia Profile); USDOS CRHRP 2023 (Bolivia)

A : National Law

National Labour Legislation

"Article 104.- Public officials, regardless of their category and condition, may not organize themselves into unions."

C : ITUC

ITUC Global Rights Index (country legal profile)

"Article 104 of the General Labor Law denies public officials the right to organize, with the exception of workers in the health, education and oil sectors."

D : USDOS

USDOS: US Department of States' Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

"A union may not be formed with less than 20 workers, in the case of unions or professional unions or with less than 50 percent of the workers of a company, in the case of industrial unions."

Information

Source: §104 of the General Labour Act, 1939; CEACR C98 Obs. 2023; ITUC Global Rights Index 2024 (Bolivia Profile)

A : National Law

National Labour Legislation

"Article 104.- Public officials, regardless of their category and condition, may not organize themselves into unions."

B : CEACR

CEACR: ILO Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations

"Articles 1, 2 and 4 of the Convention. Legislative issues. In its previous comment, the Committee recalled two main issues relating to the above-mentioned Articles of the Convention, namely: (i) the urgency of updating the fines established in Act No. 38 of 1944, which currently range from 1,000 to 5,000 Bolivian pesos, in order to make them more effective in preventing discrimination and anti-union interference; and (ii) the need to guarantee the right to collective bargaining for both public servants not engaged in the public administration and agricultural workers (for the latter, such recognition is already provided for in the Constitution, but the General Labour Act has not yet been amended in this respect). The Committee also noted the Government’s reply indicating that it was still working on updating fines in collaboration with the Bolivian Workers’ Federation (COB), drafting a new law for public servants not engaged in the public administration, and drafting a new Labour Code to address the issue of the exclusion of agricultural workers. Noting with regret the lack of progress in this regard, the Committee firmly expects that the new Public Servants Act and the new Labour Code will be adopted in the very near future and that, taking account of the Committee’s comments, they will be in full conformity with the provisions of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to report on any developments in this regard and once again reminds the Government that it may avail itself of the technical assistance of the Office if it so wishes."

C : ITUC

ITUC Global Rights Index (country legal profile)

"Public employees who do not work in the State administration (Article 104 of the General Labour Law) and agricultural workers (Article 1 of the General Labour Law of 1942, and Regulatory Decree No. 224 of 23 August 1943 of the General Labour Law) – among others – continue to be unable to enjoy the right to collective bargaining."

Information

Source: §114 of the General Labour Act, 1939; CEACR C87 Obs. 2023

A : National Law

National Labour Legislation

"Article 114.- If conciliation and arbitration efforts fail, workers may declare strikes and employers may declare lockouts, provided that the following circumstances occur: 1. A ruling by the Conciliation Board and the Arbitration Court on the matter raised; 2. The Resolution is adopted by at least ¾ of the total number of workers in active service."

B : CEACR

CEACR: ILO Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations

"Articles 2, 3 and 4 of the Convention. Legislative issues ........... With regard to the majority established in section 114 of the General Labour Act and section 159 of the Regulatory Decree; the illegality of strikes in the banking sector (section 1(c) of Supreme Decree No. 1958 of 1950); and the possibility of imposing compulsory arbitration by decision of the executive authorities to bring an end to a strike, including in services other than those that are essential in the strict sense of the term, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, these provisions require a holistic interpretation, where the requirement of three quarters of workers for the declaration of a strike refers to workers in active service, that is, those on duty, and not to the total number of employees in the enterprise. ..........."

Information

Source: CEACR C87 Obs. 2023; §234 of the Penal Code of Bolivia,1997

A : National Law

National Labour Legislation

"Art. 234°.- (LOCK-OUT, STRIKES AND ILLEGAL STRIKES). Anyone who promotes a lock-out, strike or stoppage declared illegal by the labor authorities will be punished with deprivation of liberty for one to three years and a fine of one hundred to three hundred days."

B : CEACR

CEACR: ILO Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations

"Articles 2, 3 and 4 of the Convention. Legislative issues ............ With regard to the prohibition on general strikes and sympathy strikes, and the imposition of penalties on the instigators or promotors of illegal strikes, the Committee notes that, in its previous comments, it noted the repeal of section 234 of the Penal Code, which criminalized the promotion of any lock-out, protest or strike declared to be illegal by the labour authorities, and requested the Government to indicate whether the reform of the Penal Code had led to the repeal of sections 1 and 2 of Legislative Decree No. 2565 (of June 1951), prohibiting and criminalizing illegal strikes. The Committee notes the Government’s indications that the State’s social and labour legislation seeks to protect trade union activity and strikes, not criminalize them, by introducing measures to protect social and trade union mobilization, while noting that the Government does not expressly indicate whether or not it has repealed sections 1 and 2 of the above-mentioned Decree and recalls once again the need to repeal these provisions. ............"