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The Committee regrets that the Government’s report responds only partially to its previous comments. It therefore draws the Government’s attention once again to the following points.

Article 3 of the Convention. The Committee recalls its previous observations in which it requested the Government to indicate any measures taken with a view to updating the guaranteed interoccupational minimum wage (SMIG) and the guaranteed minimum agricultural wage (SMAG) which were last revised in 1995. The Committee notes that the Government is still not in a position to report any progress in this respect and recalls that the fundamental objective of the Convention, which is to ensure to workers a minimum wage that guarantees a decent standard of living for them and their families, cannot be meaningfully attained unless minimum wages are periodically reviewed to take account of changes in the cost of living and other economic conditions. Moreover, the Committee has been requesting additional information as regards the equal representation of the employers and workers concerned in the operation of the minimum wage fixing machinery. In its reply, the Government states that the Trade Union Confederation of Chad (CST) is now among the social partners consulted by the Government and that the said organization is represented in joint committees. The Committee takes this opportunity to emphasize once again the fundamental character of the principle of full consultation of the social partners at all stages of the minimum wage-fixing procedure. According to the letter and the spirit of the Convention, the process of consultation must precede any decision-making and must be effective, that is to say it should afford the social partners a genuine opportunity to express their views and have some influence on the decisions pertaining to the matters that are the subject of consultation.

Article 4. The Committee has been requesting the Government to take the necessary steps to enforce the minimum wage rates fixed in the public sector. According to the Government’s report, although the application of the SMIG in the public sector continues to be a problem, a protocol of agreement has been concluded in 2003 between the Government and the trade union centres for the establishment of a joint committee to determine the wage scales applicable to workers in the public sector. The Committee requests the Government to supply a copy of this protocol of agreement and to keep it informed of the new wage rates for public employees as soon as these are fixed. The Committee would also be interested in receiving additional information on the functioning of the new joint committee, including for instance its composition or the criteria used in fixing minimum wage rates.