Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report responds only partially to its previous comments.

Article 3 of the Convention. The Committee notes that the guaranteed interoccupational minimum wage (SMIG) and the guaranteed minimum agricultural wage (SMAG) remain at their 1995 level, or CFA25,480 (approximately US$50) per month. With regard to the public sector, the Government indicates that the SMIG applies to this sector since 2003, following the adoption of a protocol of agreement establishing a joint committee to determine the wage scales applicable to workers in the public sector. The Government also states that, in accordance with the protocol, there have recently been wage increases. The Committee requests the Government to supply a copy of the 2003 protocol of agreement and also to specify the minimum wage for public sector employees currently in effect.

As regards the equal representation of employers’ and workers’ organizations in the minimum wage fixing machinery, the Committee notes that Decree No. 247/PR/MFPTE/DG/DTESS/02 of 25 November 2002 provides for the participation of nine employers’ and nine workers’ representatives in the joint committee responsible for formulating new wage scales. The Committee would be interested in receiving additional information on the functioning of the joint committee, including full particulars on the criteria used in determining minimum pay rates.

In the absence of any meaningful progress in adjusting minimum wage rates to take account of the country’s evolving socio-economic conditions, the Committee is obliged to recall its previous comments, as well as the conclusions of the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards at the 87th Session of the International Labour Conference (June 1999), according to which the primary function of the minimum wage system envisaged in the Convention is to serve as a measure of social protection and poverty reduction ensuring decent minimum wage levels for the low-paid, unskilled workers. This implies that minimum rates of pay that have come to represent only a fraction of the real needs of the workers and their families can hardly meet the requirements of the Convention. Therefore, the Committee once again asks the Government to look into existing minimum wage levels for agricultural and non-agricultural workers and make every effort to ensure that any possible increases adequately reflect the real needs of workers and their families, for instance by maintaining their purchasing power in relation to a basic basket of essential consumer goods.

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. The Committee notes that the Government has not provided in recent years any information on the practical application of the Convention. The Committee requests, therefore, the Government to communicate in its next report general information on the effect given to the Convention in practice, including, for instance, extracts from inspection reports showing the number of infringements and sanctions imposed for minimum wage-related offences, recent surveys and studies on matters covered by the Convention, any official documents on minimum wage policy prepared by the abovementioned joint committee, available statistics on the number of workers remunerated at the SMIG or the SMAG rate, as well as any other particulars which would enable the Committee to appreciate the progress achieved or the difficulties encountered by the Government in discharging its obligations under the Convention.