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Article 1 of the Convention. Establishment of minimum wage-fixing machinery. Further to its previous comments on the abolition of the system of the guaranteed interoccupational minimum wage (SMIG), the Committee notes the Government’s explanations to the effect that this decision was taken under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which required the Government to adopt a raft of measures, including liberalization of the labour market, to be the beneficiary of a Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). The Government adds that it made the choice of deregulation rather than leave the SMIG in place, since the balance of public finances would have been seriously jeopardized and wages would not have been guaranteed, thereby threatening the social peace and stability of the country. In this regard, the Committee recalls that the establishment of minimum wage-fixing machinery outside the system of collective bargaining is essential for ensuring effective social protection for workers who are not covered by the rules of collective agreements, and that the Government must take the necessary steps to ensure that collectively agreed minimum wage rates are binding and the application thereof is linked to a system of supervision and effective penalties.

The Committee therefore concludes that the situation remains unchanged. Apart from the Government’s indication that the matter would be studied by the new National Council for Labour, Employment and Vocational Training (CNT), the Convention is no longer applied either in law or in practice. The CNT was set up pursuant to Decree No. 2008-0023/PR/MESN of 20 January 2008 as a tripartite structure to enable the Government and the social partners to exchange ideas in a free and open manner. In this regard, the Government points out that there is increasing talk of the possibility of reintroducing the SMIG for each branch of economic activity. The Committee requests the Government to supply detailed information on the planned meeting of the CNT and any decisions regarding the reintroduction of the national minimum wage rate. It also requests the Government to send its comments in reply to the observations made by the General Union of Djibouti Workers (UGTD) sent to the Government in September 2007.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2009.]