Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Articles 1(1) and 3(2) of the Convention. Minimum wage fixing machinery and consultations with the social partners. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the continued failure to readjust the national minimum wage has had an adverse impact on low-paid workers. It also notes the Government’s reference to a long list of issues that have accrued because of the ongoing impasse concerning the establishment of a Minimum Wages Board. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide a detailed account of the current situation, including the views of the representative organizations of employers and workers concerned, and indicate any concrete measures taken or planned in order to reactivate the process for the determination of minimum wages in accordance with the principles set out in the Convention.

Moreover, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that the minimum wage fixing mechanism already in place, i.e. the Minimum Wages Board, covers all sectors of the economy rather than individual sectors, and that therefore it considers the Convention to have become irrelevant and without purpose under the circumstances. The Committee also notes that the Government intends to denounce the Convention at the next available occasion.

In this respect, the Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131) which was adopted precisely in order to rectify the weaknesses of earlier instruments on minimum wage fixing in manufacture, commerce and agriculture. Among the main improvements, Convention No. 131 requires the establishment of a system of minimum wages covering all groups of wage earners thus broadening the scope of minimum wage protection; strengthens the principle of the binding force of minimum wages without providing for possible exceptions to this principle; allows for different policy considerations that may arise in fixing minimum wages so that the criteria for the determination of minimum wage levels include the need to consider the effect of increases in the minimum wages on economic growth and on employment; provides for periodic review and adjustment of minimum wage levels in full consultation with the social partners; and calls for appropriate measures, such as adequate inspection, to ensure compliance with established pay rates. By decision of the ILO Governing Body, Convention No. 131 is considered to be an up-to-date instrument the ratification of which should be promoted. In light of the preceding remarks, the Committee invites the Government to favourably consider the possibility of ratifying Convention No. 131 and to keep the Office informed of any decision taken in this regard.

In addition, the Committee refers to the comments made under Convention No. 26.