Use made of the assets of organizations that are dissolved

A. General principles

706. The Committee has accepted the criterion that, when an organization is dissolved, its assets should be provisionally sequestered and eventually distributed among its former members or handed over to the organization that succeeds it, meaning the organization or organizations which pursue the aims for which the dissolved union was established, and which pursue them in the same spirit.

(See the 1996 Digest, para. 684; 308th Report, Case No. 1869, para. 497; 309th Report, Case No. 1938, para. 181; and 325th Report, Case No. 1888, para. 399.) 707. When a union ceases to exist, its assets could be handed over to the association that succeeds it or distributed in accordance with its own rules; but where there is no specific rule, the assets should be at the disposal of the workers concerned.

(See the 1996 Digest, para. 685.)

708. With regard to the issue of the distribution of trade union assets among various trade union organizations following a change from a situation of trade union monopoly to a situation of trade union pluralism, the Committee has emphasized the importance it attaches to the principle according to which the devolution of trade union assets (including real estate) or, in the event that trade union premises are made available by the State, the redistribution of this property must aim to ensure that all the trade unions are guaranteed on an equal footing the possibility of effectively exercising their activities in a fully independent manner. It would be desirable for the government and all the trade union organizations concerned to make efforts to conclude as soon as possible a defi nitive agreement regulating the distribution of the assets of the former trade union organization.

(See the 1996 Digest, para. 687.)

(See the 1996 Digest, para. 688.)