CMNT_TITLE

The Committee notes the Government’s report and would appreciate receiving further information on the following points.

Articles 1, 2(2) and 4(2), of the Convention. The Committee notes the Government’s reference to the General Collective Agreement for 2004-05, a tripartite agreement concluded among the Cabinet of Ministers, the Azerbaijan Trade Union Confederation and the Azerbaijan Entrepreneurs’ Confederation, in which the parties committed to consecutive increases in the minimum wage in order to gradually bring it up to the minimum subsistence level. However, the Committee is bound to observe that in the light of section 155(6) of the Labour Code of 1999, no institutionalized machinery seems to exist whereby employers’ and workers’ representatives may be regularly consulted on an equal footing with a view to determining or adjusting the national minimum wage. The Committee therefore asks the Government to provide a copy of the General Collective Agreement 2004-05 which has not been received, and to specify the legal provisions giving effect to the requirements of the Convention for effective consultation and direct collaboration of the social partners in all stages of the minimum wage fixing process.

Article 3. The Committee notes the explanations provided by the Government on the minimum subsistence level, as set out in the Act on the minimum subsistence level of 2004 and the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 185 of 23 June 2005. The Committee understands that the minimum subsistence level represents in fact the poverty line to be calculated every three years on the basis of a minimum consumer basket. The minimum subsistence level is currently established at AZN56.9 (approximately US$63) or practically double the national minimum wage currently in force. The Government is thus fully aware that the minimum wage is far from guaranteeing a decent standard of living, and intends to progressively narrow the gap between the minimum subsistence level and the national minimum wage. In 2007, for instance, the national minimum wage is expected to represent 71.4 per cent of the minimum subsistence level. In this regard, the Committee expresses its hope that the Government will spare no effort in order to gradually raise the minimum wage above the poverty line, and that the social partners will be fully consulted in that process.

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. The Committee notes that the national minimum wage is to be raised from its current AZN30 (approximately US$33) rate to between AZN40-50 (approximately US$45-55) as of 1 January  2007. It would be grateful if the Government would continue to provide up to date information on the practical application of the Convention, such as the size and composition of the workforce subject to the minimum wage legislation, information on the evolution of the national minimum wage in past years as compared to the evolution of economic indicators such as the inflation rate in the same period, labour inspection results showing the number and nature of contraventions observed and sanctions imposed, copies of official reports or studies relating to the minimum subsistence level, etc.