European Union Statement 

112th International Labour Conference

Committee on Application of Standards

Nicaragua

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, 1948 (No. 87)

Geneva, 6 June 2024

Thank you, Chair.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The candidate countries North Macedonia*, Montenegro*, Ukraine, and Albania*, and the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

1. The EU and its Member States are committed to the respect, protection and fulfilment of human rights, including labour rights. We promote universal ratification and effective implementation of fundamental ILO Conventions and support the ILO in developing and promoting international labour standards and supervising their application.
2. The EU and Central America, including Nicaragua, have an Association Agreement which has recently entered into force. Its objectives are to develop and deepen a privileged political and economic partnership based on values, principles and common objectives.
3. We remain concerned about the labour rights situation in Nicaragua, including reported acts of intimidation and harassment against independent workers’ and employers’ organisations as well as the allegations of arbitrary arrests and detentions. Various UN Bodies including the United Nations Human Rights Council have also expressed their concern at the human rights situation, including the destruction of civic and democratic space in Nicaragua. We deplore that human rights violations are continuing in the country.
4. We regret that the authorities have failed so far to follow up on the conclusions of the 110th and the 111th Conference Committee on the Application of Standards. We reiterate the conclusions adopted last year urging the Government to immediately cease all acts of violence, threats, persecution, stigmatization, intimidation or any other form of aggression against individuals or organizations in connection with both the exercise of legitimate trade union activities and the activities of employers’ organizations.
5. We note that the Government of Nicaragua reiterates that since 2007, it has been working to ensure the restoration and protection of the labour rights of workers through tripartite dialogue, but we regret that, despite the Conference Committee urging the Government in 2022 and 2023 to promote social dialogue without delay through the establishment of a tripartite dialogue round table under the auspices of the ILO, no tangible progress has been made on that matter. We therefore call the Government to establish without delay a tripartite dialogue round table.
6. Noting the serious non-compliance with ILO fundamental Convention 87 and the absence of progress, despite several discussions in this Committee and more recently at the Governing body, we urge the Government to adopt as soon as possible, in consultation with the social partners, each and every measure that it has been invited to take by the Conference Committee. We request the Government to provide information to the ILO on this regard. We also invite the Government to accept ILO technical assistance to that effect.
7. We reiterate the Committee of Experts’ call to amend sections 389 and 390 of Labour Code, that provide that collective disputes shall be referred to compulsory arbitration once 30 days have elapsed since the calling of the strike. In line with Convention 87, the imposition of compulsory arbitration to end a strike, beyond the cases in which a strike may be limited or even prohibited, is contrary to the right of workers’ organizations to organize their activities and to formulate their programmes in full freedom.
8. While noting the information provided by the Government that it is continuing to promote initiatives in support of the right to organise, that policies have been adopted to promote and encourage trade union organization and that, between 2018 and the first quarter of 2023, 156 new trade unions were established, we recall that to guarantee the rights of employers’ and workers’ organisations protected by the Convention it is essential to respect fundamental freedoms, the right to protection against arbitrary detention and imprisonment and the right to a fair trial by an independent and impartial tribunal. Therefore, we echo the request of the Committee of Experts and invite the Government to provide detailed information to the ILO on the initiatives adopted to guarantee the free exercise of the right to organize by both workers and employers.
9. The EU and its Member States will remain closely seized of the situation in Nicaragua.

Thank you Chair. 

*North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.