Global Rights Index 2014 - Burkina Faso

Country Rating: 2

• Repeated violation of rights

• Countries with a rating 2 have slightly weaker collective labour rights than those with the rating 1. Certain rights have come under the repeated attack by governments and/or companies and have undermined the struggle for better working conditions.

Categories of workers prohibited or limited from forming or joining a union: The existence of occupational groups of soldiers of a trade union nature as well as the participation of military personnel in groups created to support demands of an occupational or political nature is banned (Article 37 of Decree n° 2008-700/PRES/PM/DEF of 14 November 2008 establishing the regulations on general discipline in the National Armed Forces).

Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors: Any strike that does not concern the defence of professional or collective interests may be banned by order of the President of the Council of Ministers (Article 5 of Law n° 45-60 /AN of 25 July 1960, regulating the right to strike of civil servants and State employees). Any concerted action liable to stop or hinder the functioning of the courts is banned. Magistrates are banned from exercising the right to strike (Article 36 of Organic Law n° 036-2001/AN of 13 December 2001 governing the status of the judiciary). The exercise of the right to strike must not under any circumstances be accompanied by occupation of the work place or its immediate surroundings, on pain of criminal sanctions (Article 386 of the Labour Code).

In order to ensure the continuity of the Administration, the security of persons and property, civil servants and state employees may be required to fill their posts". Such requisitions are in principle announced "by individual order" and "if the circumstances so require, there may be a collective requisition of civil servants and state employees from one or several State administrations, services, establishments or enterprises (Article 6 of Law 45-60).