CMNT_TITLE

The Committee notes the Government’s report. In particular, it notes that the three-year interval reviews of minimum wage rates have been discontinued since 1992 following the policy decision to deregulate the fixing of minimum wages, and that therefore the minimum wage rate applicable to the agricultural sector has not been readjusted in the past ten years. It also notes that the 2000 Minimum Wages Board determination was disallowed partly because the Rural Industries’ Council, an employer group, claimed it was not capable of paying the determined minimum wage rate. The Committee understands that the reform of the wage-setting process and the overturn of the Minimum Wages Board recommendation for a 160 per cent increase of the minimum wage of rural workers from K24.2 ($7) to K60.42 ($18) per week were decided in implementation of a structural adjustment programme supported by the World Bank and the IMF. The Committee also understands that the proposed minimum pay rise was designed to compensate for the impact of inflation and the erosion of the national currency which lost half of its value between 1994 and 2001. The Committee considers it appropriate to recall that the fundamental and ultimate objective of the Convention is to ensure that minimum wages are maintained at such a level that may provide a satisfactory standard of living to workers and their families and therefore the timing and frequency of their adjustment should not be determined on the basis only of economic factors, such as the requirements of economic development and the desirability of attaining a high level of employment, but should also be related to social considerations such as the basic needs of workers and their families (e.g., housing, food, education, health, leisure, clothing, hygiene, transport, social security or leisure and sports). In this connection, the Committee wishes to refer to paragraph 429 of its General Survey of 1992 on minimum wages in which it noted that this fundamental objective of the minimum wage system should constantly be borne in mind especially in those countries undergoing structural adjustment programmes or in a process of transition from a planned to a market economy. Noting that almost 85 per cent of the population derive their livelihood from agriculture and farming, the Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any measures taken in consultation with its social partners for the revision of minimum wage rates applicable to agricultural workers.

The Committee refers also to the comments made under Convention No. 26.