Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in response to its previous comments.

Article 3, paragraph 2(2), of the Convention. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government according to which the practice of full consultation between the social partners has not been established and wage negotiations between workers and employers have only been held following strikes or the threat thereof. The Government has fixed a minimum wage level equivalent to US$20 in readjusted kwanzas.

The Committee recalls that the provisions of the Convention require consultations with the employers' and workers' organizations concerned prior to the fixing of minimum wage rates. It hopes that the Government will soon take appropriate measures guaranteeing the participation, in equal numbers and on an equal footing, of employers' and workers' representatives in the system of fixing minimum wages.

Article 3, paragraph 2(3), and Article 4. The Committee hopes that the Government will soon provide a copy of the latest decree fixing the minimum wage level, and specify the relevant legislative or regulatory provisions used to guarantee respect for these levels, such as the possibilities of recovering, by legal, judicial or other means, the amount due to workers who appear to have received wages lower than at the minimum wage rate, together with the penalties provided for in case of infringement of the provisions relating to minimum wages.

Point V of the report form. The Committee would be grateful to the Government if it would provide information on the application of the Convention in practice: (i) by providing, as far as possible, the statistics available on the number and different categories of workers subject to the regulations on minimum wage rates; and (ii) by indicating for example the results of the inspections made, the cases of infringements recorded and the penalties imposed.