CMNT_TITLE

Articles 1 and 3 of the Convention. Minimum wage fixing machinery. The Committee notes the new minimum wages for all sectors in the agricultural industry set by the National Employment Council for the Agricultural Industry (NEC), as from May 2007, in a collective agreement amending the principal collective bargaining agreement for the agricultural industry (Statutory Instrument No. 323 of 1993). The Committee recalls that the Government had previously reported that minimum wage rates in agriculture are reviewed on an annual basis by NEC wage subcommittees responsible for cost-of-living adjustment. In the absence of any specific provision in either the Labour Act (Chapter 28:01) or Statutory Instrument No. 323 of 1993 concerning the periodicity of NEC meetings, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the legal text providing for the annual review and adjustment of agricultural minimum wage rates.

In addition, the Committee notes that, under section 27 of Statutory Instrument No. 323 of 1993, an employer may make an application to the National Employment Council to be exempted or partly exempted from paying collectively agreed wages. The Committee requests the Government to provide additional explanations on the grounds on which such exemption may be granted and the extent to which this permissive clause has been used in practice.    

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to supply all available information on the practical application of the Convention, especially as regards enforcement of minimum wage legislation in the agricultural sector and also the repercussions of the recently announced freeze of all wage and price increases on the functioning of the minimum wage fixing machinery. The Committee notes with concern that even though increases of up to 614 per cent have been agreed upon in the latest collective agreement for certain sectors of the agricultural industry, these increases risk to have little impact on the workers’ actual standard of living in view of the inflation rate that rises to more than 7,000 per cent.  The Committee would be particularly interested in receiving the Government’s views in this regard.

In addition, the Committee refers to the comments made under Convention No. 26.