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The Committee notes the comments sent by the Union of Autonomous Comoran Workers’ Organizations (USATC). In its comments the USATC indicates that the employees of the State of Grand Comore and the Island of Mohéli were not paid their wages for 20 months for the period from 1995 to 2000, and that the pay of employees in Anjouan is 30 months in arrears. The USATC adds that, furthermore, there have been reductions in the wages still owed to them under the injunctions of the IMF and the World Bank, that job promotions have been frozen for more than six years and that some employers do not establish payslips for their employees. The Committee also notes that, according to the USATC, the practice of paying wages late is now affecting the private and semi-public sectors, where delays of three to four months have been noted. The USATC further indicates that the Memorandum of Understanding of 20 May 2000 on the payment of wage arrears concluded between the Government on the one hand and the National Union of Comoran Primary School Teachers (SNIC) and the National Union of Comoran Teachers (SNCP) on the other remains a dead letter.

The Committee notes the Government’s reply to its previous observation and to the USATC’s comments on the Memorandum of Understanding of 20 May 2000 concerning the payment of wage arrears.

With regard to the wage arrears, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that for economic reasons, the regular payment of the wages of all Comoran workers is far from being achieved and that the unpaid wages have therefore accumulated over the years. The Committee nonetheless notes that the Government intends to find a proper solution in order to reimburse the arrears and pay wages regularly, both in the public service and the private sector, as soon as the economic constraints have disappeared.

Regarding the Memorandum of Understanding on the payment of wage arrears, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that the purpose of the Memorandum was not to pay wage arrears but to give tenure of post to certain primary school teachers and to pay two months’ wages, the first part of the payment having been honoured by the prescribed date.

While noting the country’s economic difficulties, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to resolve the problem of the payment of arrears in the light of Article 12 of the Convention. The Committee asks the Government to send a detailed report on the measures adopted to solve the above problem for examination by the Committee at its next session.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 2001.]