Employment law
Strikes: notice, minimum service and conciliation
One Monday morning, the union committee secretary places a letter on the director’s desk: without a pay rise, the workers will stop work in fifteen days. In the silos, wheat is waiting to be milled and the town’s bakers rely on deliveries. Those fifteen days are not a passive countdown: the law makes them a mandatory negotiation period.
Our fictional running case: Tièba Minoterie, a flour mill in Ségou with 110 employees and an active union committee.
1. What exactly are we talking about?
A strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees to support professional demands: pay, working conditions, short-time measures, contract changes. It arises from a collective dispute, that is, a conflict involving a group of employees and a collective interest (article L.218).
The right to strike is guaranteed to all employees. It is exercised subject to a minimum service meeting the population’s essential needs. Labour Code, article L.231
A strike suspends work. It does not end the contract, except for gross misconduct.
2. Notice: fifteen days to negotiate
A strike must be preceded by 15 calendar days’ notice, during which the parties are required to negotiate. Labour Code, article L.231-1 This rule, introduced by Law No. 2017-021 of 12 June 2017, protects both sides: employees are heard, and the company has time to seek an agreement before work stops.
The most common mistake
Waiting for the deadline without proposing anything. The text obliges the employer, like the employees, to negotiate. At Tièba Minoterie, management calls in the union committee the day after the notice is filed and sets a meeting schedule.
What you need to do
- Acknowledge the strike notice in writing and record the expiry date.
- Propose a meeting schedule in the first few days.
- Record each meeting in minutes signed by both sides.
3. The dispute settlement procedure
Every collective dispute must be notified immediately to the regional labour inspector, or to the director of labour if the conflict spans several regions. The conciliator immediately tries to bring the parties together (article L.219).
| Step | What the Code provides |
|---|---|
| Conciliation | Minutes of agreement or failure within 6 clear days; the signed and endorsed agreement is immediately enforceable |
| Report to the minister | If conciliation fails, the conciliator sends a report to the minister of labour and gives the parties a copy |
| Arbitration | The minister refers the matter to the arbitration board at the express request of the parties, or on their own initiative in an acute national crisis or an essential service |
| Award | Issued within 15 days; appeal to the Supreme Court within 8 clear days, with suspensive effect |
The conciliator draws up the minutes within six clear days of being seised. Labour Code, article L.221 The arbitration rules are set out in articles L.225 to L.229. Labour Code, article L.225 See The labour inspector.
4. When a strike or lock-out becomes unlawful
A lock-out is the closure of the company decided by the employer in response to a dispute. Strikes and lock-outs are unlawful during the conciliation procedure and once an arbitration decision has become enforceable. Labour Code, article L.231-2
| Party | Penalty for an unlawful strike or lock-out |
|---|---|
| Employees | Termination of the contract from the day work stopped, with no rights other than salary and accrued leave compensation at that date |
| Employer | Payment of lost days’ wages; ineligibility for three years for the chamber of commerce; ban from sitting on the Higher Labour Council and from public contracts |
Protection of the contract applies only if the strike or lock-out is started in compliance with the procedure for settling collective disputes (article L.34). A strike launched without notice does not meet this condition.
What an unlawful lock-out costs
Example. During conciliation, Tièba Minoterie management closes the mill for three days. Assume an average daily wage of XOF 6,000.
Lost days to pay: 110 employees × 3 days = 330 days Amount: 330 × 6,000 = XOF 1,980,000, not counting ineligibility and exclusion from public contracts
What you need to do
- Never close the company during conciliation.
- Check that notice was respected before labelling the strike.
5. During the strike: what the employer may and may not do
Pay
During a lawful strike, the contract is suspended without pay. The deduction matches the time not worked: it is not a sanction. Labour Code, article L.38 Hours lost through a strike cannot be made up by extending the working day (article L.134).
Sanctions
Taking part in a lawful strike cannot be sanctioned. Only gross misconduct committed during the strike, as assessed by the court, can justify termination. Nor may the employer take union activity into account in disciplinary or dismissal decisions (article L.257).
Minimum service and requisition
A decree adopted in the Council of Ministers lists the services and jobs essential to minimum service. The administrative authority may requisition staff when an essential public service is interrupted by an unlawful strike, or when a total and prolonged stoppage in an important sector endangers the population’s life, health or safety. An employee who fails to carry out a duly notified requisition order may be dismissed without notice or compensation (article L.231).
What you need to do
- Deduct only the pay corresponding to time not worked.
- Take no sanction based solely on participation in the strike.
- Know in advance whether your activity falls under minimum service.
6. Preparing the company before any dispute
- Identify the counterparts: staff delegates and the union committee, with their mandates.
- Meet the delegates at least once a month, as the Code requires, to handle grievances before they build up (article L.274).
- Appoint a single negotiator to avoid contradictory messages.
- Prepare continuity: activities to stop, activities to maintain, resources needed.
A closer look: delegates during the dispute
Staff delegates present collective grievances and may refer matters to the labour inspector (article L.278). Their dismissal requires the inspector’s prior authorisation, failing which it is void (article L.277). A collective dispute therefore allows no hasty measures against them.
Key takeaways in 6 points
- Respect the right to strike, guaranteed to all employees.
- Negotiate in earnest during the 15 calendar days of notice.
- Notify the dispute to the inspectorate and take part in conciliation, which concludes within 6 clear days.
- Never resort to a lock-out during conciliation or after an enforceable award.
- Deduct pay for hours not worked, with no other sanction except for gross misconduct.
- Know the company’s minimum service obligations in advance.