IOE condemns the arbitrary and illegal revocation of the legal status of COSEP (Nicaragua)

IOE expresses its solidarity with the Nicaraguan employer organisation COSEP and its 18 member associations.

The International Organisation of Employers (IOE) expresses its concern about the decision of the Government of Nicaragua to revoke the legal status of the Consejo Superior de la Empresa Privada (COSEP) and the eighteen associations of the various business sectors comprising it.

IOE repudiates, in the strongest terms, the arbitrary and illegal action of the Government of Nicaragua, and demands that this decision be immediately rescinded so that the COSEP, the most representative employer organisation in the country and its 18 associations may once again enjoy their legal status.

These actions are contrary, among other international treaties, to the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) fundamental Convention No. 87 on freedom of association, which was voluntarily ratified by Nicaragua in 1967. IOE emphasises that the revocation of the legal status of an employer organisation, in addition to entailing the termination of its activities by administrative means, constitutes a serious violation of the principles of freedom of association and, in particular, of Article 4 of Convention No. 87, which provides that employers' organisations (and workers' organisations) are not subject to dissolution by administrative means.

In view of such serious and deplorable facts, IOE will urgently defend the reinstatement of the legal status of the organisation with all the mechanisms at its disposal, including those provided for by the United Nations and ILO systems for the supervision of standards and fundamental rights.

About International Organisation of Employers

The International Organisation of Employers (IOE) is the largest private sector network in the world, encompassing more than 50 million companies through 150 national employer organisations in over 140 countries. IOE is the sole representative of business in social and employment policy debates taking place at the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations, G20 and other global forums.