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In its previous observation, the Committee noted the information supplied by the Ecuadorian Confederation of Free Trade Unions (CEOSL) concerning the application of Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention. By virtue of section 29 of Act No. 133 to revise the Labour Code, which amends section 168 of the Labour Code, workers can be recruited under an apprenticeship contract, of which the duration may not be more than six months, at remuneration which cannot be less than 75 per cent of the minimum living wage. The number of persons recruited under this form of contract cannot exceed 10 per cent of the number of workers in the enterprise. In the event of the continuation of the employment relationship at the end of the six-month period, the contract is converted into a contract without limit of time. The objective of this apprenticeship contract is to learn a trade or the special characteristics of a job which is manual, technical or which requires a skill.

The Ecuadorian Confederation of Free Trade Unions considers that this amendment to section 168 of the Labour Code creates a new category of workers who may be called "industrial apprentices" who are paid remuneration which is lower than the minimum wage.

The Committee notes that the Government has not made observations on these comments in its report, as it was invited to do in April 1992.

The Committee refers to paragraphs 169 and 176 of its 1992 General Survey on Minimum Wages, in which it indicates that the fixing of minimum wages as a function of certain criteria such as age must respect general principles, and particularly those contained in the Preamble of the Constitution of the ILO, which include equal remuneration for work of equal value. Furthermore, the Committee refers to the comments made in paragraph 177 of the above General Survey, according to which the concept of apprenticeship refers to persons who, irrespective of their age, are being trained at their place of work.

The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures which have been adopted to ensure that the persons employed in enterprises under an apprenticeship contract by virtue of section 168 of the Labour Code, as amended, and whose remuneration must not be less than 75 per cent of the minimum living wage, undergo vocational training at their place of work. It also requests the Government to supply information on the manner in which the representative organizations of employers and of workers were fully consulted with regard to the changes made to the system of fixing minimum wages.

The Committee is also addressing a direct request to the Government on certain points.

[The Government is asked to report in detail for the period ending 30 June 1994.]