237. Finally, while noting the Government’s statement that teachers and nurses negotiated collective agreements, the Committee of Experts requested the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the right to collective bargaining was granted to all public servants with the sole possible exception of those engaged in the administration of the State. In particular, the Committee of Experts requested the Government to ensure that prison staff and employees engaged in the framework of the Lotteries Act, excluded by the Public Servants Act, enjoyed the right to organize and bargain collectively. 238. At its 2003 session, the Committee of Experts noted the adoption by Zimbabwe of the Labour Relations Amendment Act (No. 17/2002) and Statutory Instrument 131/2003. It noted with satisfaction that under the new legislation, certain issues it had previously raised were resolved. In particular, Statutory Instrument 131/2003 prohibited acts of interference by employers in trade union organizations and provided for sanctions such as fines and/or imprisonment in cases of infringement; new section 93(5) of the Labour Act made compulsory arbitration possible only with the agreement of the parties concerned or when conciliation procedures had failed in the essential services; and section 2A(3) explicitly stated that the Labour Act prevailed over any legislation, including the Public Service Act. The consequence of the latter was to ensure that workers engaged in the framework of the Lotteries Act and other categories of workers mentioned in section 14(c) and (h) of the Public Service Act were governed by the Labour Act and enjoyed the rights provided for in the Convention. 239. However, prison staff, being members of a disciplined force, were excluded from the Public Service Act and from the Labour Act (section 3(2)(b) and 3(5)(a)) and therefore continued to be deprived of rights guaranteed by the Convention. The Committee of Experts therefore again considered that the Government should amend its legislation so as to ensure that prison workers enjoyed the right to organize and to bargain collectively. 240. With regard to the need for ministerial approval of collective agreements and the right of the Minister to fix a maximum wage and other conditions of employment by statutory instrument, the Committee of Experts noted the Government’s statement concerning the need to protect consumers and the general public and reiterated its request for legislative amendment. It once again requested the Government to amend section 25(1) of the Labour Act so as to ensure that when a union existed in the undertaking, even if it represented less than 50 per cent of employees, it enjoyed bargaining rights. 241. At its 2004 session, the Committee of Experts noted the Government’s indication that new legislation would be promulgated by June 2005 and recalled all previously raised issues. At its 2006 session, the Committee of Experts noted with interest that the following provisions of the Labour Act were repealed by the Labour Amendment Bill, 2005: a requirement for collective agreements to be submitted for ministerial approval in order to ensure that their provisions were equitable to consumers, to members of the public generally or to any other party to the collective bargaining agreement (paragraph (b) common to sections 25(2), 79(2) and 81(1)); and the power of the Minister to fix a maximum wage and the maximum amount that may be payable by way of benefits, allowances, bonuses or increments by statutory instrument prevailing over any agreement or arrangement (section 22). The Committee of Experts, however, stressed the need to repeal paragraph (c), common to sections 25(2), 79(2) and 81(1) of the Labour Act, which subjected collective agreements to ministerial approval on the ground that the agreement was or became unreasonable or unfair, having regard to the respective rights of the parties. 242. Noting the ongoing labour law reform, the Committee of Experts drew the attention of the Government to the need to amend section 25(1) of the Labour Act in relation to the direct settlements between employers and non-unionized workers and to ensure the application of the rights provided for by the Convention to prison workers. Meetings-2009-Zimbabwe C of I-2009-12-0035-3-En.doc/v3 67