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With reference to the comments made by the Federal Chamber of Labour concerning the effects of the withdrawal of negotiation mandates by employers for collective agreements on the fixing of minimum wage rates, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the consequences of this withdrawal on the fixing of minimum wages.

In its report, the Government gives the following indications: (i) the obligations deriving from Article 1 of the Convention are fulfilled in Austria through a system of the minimum wage awards by a conciliation board in industries in which a collective agreement cannot be concluded because of the absence of employers' organizations with the mandate to conclude such agreements; (ii) collective agreements are the normal method used in practice for the fixing of wages; (iii) a large number of collective agreements are concluded by representative bodies of employers, of which membership is compulsory for all the employers in a sector; (iv) the issue of persons who are not covered by agreements is negligible in Austria; and (v) in sectors in which there are bodies representing both employers and workers which are capable of concluding collective agreements, no minimum wage awards can be adopted by the Conciliation Board. The Government adds that only a strike or other trade union action could overcome the unwillingness of employers to enter into negotiation for a collective agreement.

The Committee notes these statements. It recalls the explanations provided in paragraph 62 of its 1992 General Survey on Minimum Wages, according to which the creation or maintenance of methods for fixing minimum wages is not enough to comply with the obligations arising from the Convention, but it is also necessary to use these methods for the effective regulation of minimum wages.

In this respect, the Committee notes with interest the Government's statement that the law lays down that in sectors in which there are organizations of employers and workers capable of negotiating collectively, but where the employers do not wish to conclude collective agreements, a statement can be issued converting a collective agreement from one sector into a binding agreement for another sector. The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the use of the procedure of such declarations by the Central Conciliation Office in sectors where the employers have withdrawn their mandate to collectively negotiate the fixing of minimum wages.