Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2006, publiée 96ème session CIT (2007)

1. Article 2. Wage differentials in the tobacco and cinnamon trade. Over the past ten years, the Committee has commented on the wage differentials between men and women in the tobacco trade and on different time/piece-rates for men and women in the cinnamon trade. The Committee notes the statistics provided by the Government on wages in Ceylon Tobacco Co. Ltd., a large-scale tobacco manufacturing company, indicating the same wage rate for both male and female casual and seasonal workers. With respect to the cinnamon trade, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that the minimum wage system is currently not applied in this sector. The Government further reaffirms that the tripartite wages boards, which set minimum wages for the tobacco and cinnamon trade, remain inoperative. In this context, the Committee recalls its previous comments under the Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131), and the Plantations Convention, 1958 (No. 110), in which it noted that the Government was exploring the possibility of having unified minimum wage rates for each sector: plantations, manufacturing, agriculture and services. The Committee also noted the comments by the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers’ Union that the collective agreements in force in the plantations sector covered only workers in the state-owned plantations managed by private companies, and that a minimum wage for the entire country was recommended.

2. While welcoming the information on wage rates in Ceylon Tobacco Co. Ltd., the Committee must point out that the statistics provided do not enable it to assess whether wage differentials have been eliminated for the tobacco sector as a whole. From the information provided, it also remains unclear to what extent the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value is applied in the cinnamon trade. The Committee recalls the importance of establishing minimum wages as a significant means of promoting the application of the Convention’s principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, and the significant role the wages boards can play in this regard. The Committee notes that according to the Government, the Labour Standards Division of the Department of Labour is conducting a survey in order to reduce the number of wage boards and simplify the procedure for deciding wages and conditions of employment. The Committee asks the Government:

(a)   to continue to work towards the compilation and analysis of statistics on current wage rates for men and women in the different sectors of the economy, and in particular the tobacco and the cinnamon trade as a whole, to enable it to gain more detailed knowledge of the nature and scope of the remaining wage inequalities and the progress made with respect to their elimination;

(b)   to explain how it promotes and ensures the application of the principle of equal remuneration in the negotiation and implementation of collective agreements setting wages above the minimum wage, and to supply copies of any existing agreements covering the plantation sector along with statistics on the number of workers, disaggregated by sex, covered by these collective agreements;

(c)   to indicate the progress made in setting minimum wages for all sectors, including the plantations sector, or establishing a national minimum wage, in cooperation with the social partners; and

(d)   to provide information on the progress made towards reducing the number of wage boards along with specific information on the proposed simplification of the procedures for determining wages.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.