Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2004, Publicación: 93ª reunión CIT (2005)

The Committee notes the Government’s report which replies only partially to the matters raised in its previous comments.

Article 1, paragraph 1, and Article 3, paragraph 2(2), of the Convention. The Committee recalls its previous observation in which it requested the Government to indicate any progress made with regard to expanding the minimum wage legislation to industries other than the rice-milling industry and the cigar- and cheroots-rolling industry. The Government, without offering any specific information on this point, states that workers in the private sector generally enjoy wages higher than the minimum wages prescribed while in the public sector the minimum wage was last increased in 2000 by order issued by the Minister of Finance and now amounts to 100 kyats daily or 3,000 kyats monthly. The Committee recalls that a system of minimum wages serves hardly any useful purpose as a measure of social protection designed to overcome poverty and to ensure the satisfaction of the workers’ subsistence needs unless minimum wage rates are periodically reviewed in light of the socio-economic conditions prevailing in the country. It therefore asks the Government to provide in its next report detailed information, including copies of the most recent statutory instrument(s) establishing minimum wage rates on: (i) the sectors of economic activity and different categories of workers which are currently subject to minimum wage legislation; (ii) the criteria used in readjusting minimum wage rates from time to time, the rate of recent increases and whether such increases are adequate to maintain the purchasing power of workers concerned in relation to a basic basket of essential goods; and (iii) the measures taken to ensure the prior consultation and equal representation of employers’ and workers’ organizations in the operation of the minimum wage fixing machinery.

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. The Committee notes the statistical data provided by the Government according to which in 2003 there were 3,971 establishments employing 10,225 workers in the rice-milling industry and 649 establishments employing 3,784 workers in the cigar- and cheroots-rolling industry. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide up-to-date information concerning the application of the Convention in practice, in particular the minimum wage rates currently in force in the above industries, the evolution of these rates in recent years as compared to the evolution of economic indicators such as the inflation rate or the national average wage, extracts from official reports and relevant studies and any other particulars bearing on the functioning of the minimum wage system.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2005.]