President Bernardo Arévalo consulted the Constitutional Court (CC) on whether the negotiations of the collective agreement of the Union of Education Workers of Guatemala (STEG), led by Joviel Acevedo, can be considered confidential.
The Supreme Court is studying the document that was presented on behalf of the president on May 15, for which the CC has up to 60 days to respond.
Acevedo’s union has sought to keep the negotiations of the collective agreement private. Although the Executive has now said that they want it to be made public, there have been no known legal efforts to do so.
The document presented by Arévalo argues that it is based on the legal framework of access to public information, the legal nature of unions, the exceptions to the right of access to information, and the principle of maximum publicity.
The questions
The new presidential consultation consists of three questions that they hope will be answered by the CC, which might give them a roadmap for the negotiations for the collective agreement, which are currently being conducted in secret.
First question: A union or ad-hoc committee of state workers, when they are subject to collective labor bargaining and a collective standardization project, are related to overcoming the minimum guarantees and rights that impact the General Budget of Income and Expenditures of the State. Can it be considered as private under Article 30 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala?
Second question: Due to the relations of cooperation and coordination that govern the entities of the public administration. Can the organ comprising the Executive Branch that receives data or a document under a guarantee of confidentiality in a collective labor negotiation process, according to article 30 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala, share it with another organ of the Executive Branch or another public entity that requires it, due to its relationship with its sectoral leadership, jurisdiction or legal constitutional powers?
Third question: Can the entire content of documents containing collective labor regulation projects between entities of the State of Guatemala and the Union or Ad-Hoc Committees be considered as information susceptible to being protected by the guarantee of confidentiality established in Article 30 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala?
Other attempts
Constitutional lawyer Edgar Ortiz filed an amparo action before the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) seeking the publicity of the collective agreement. But the full court suspended his legal action.
Subsequently, the National Civic Movement (MCN) filed a similar amparo action. It is not known whether the SCJ has made any decision on the matter.
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