Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1994, published 81st ILC session (1994)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Chile (Ratification: 1971)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report.

1. In its previous direct requests, the Committee requested the Government to indicate the manner in which and the provisions by which it ensured the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value, in accordance with the Convention. The Government merely refers once again to article 19(16) of the Constitution and section 2 of the Labour Code as applying the above principle; however, the Committee had noted that these provisions only refer in a general manner to the principle of equal treatment. The Committee notes the Government's statement that the employment services have not been notified of judicial rulings which are relevant to this matter. It once again requests the Government to inform it of the measures taken or envisaged to bring the legislation into conformity with the Convention in a sufficiently explicit form so that in practice the workers concerned are not obliged to resort to the labour courts or seek protection from the courts of justice against violations of these constitutional provisions.

2. The Committee notes the Government's statement that it does not have at its disposal copies of collective agreements which illustrate the manner in which wages that are higher than the minimum are fixed in the various sectors of the economy. The Committee again asks the Government to supply copies of a number of such agreements, perhaps by calling on the assistance of employers' or workers' organizations. Furthermore, it requests the Government to supply statistics indicating the proportion of women covered by collective agreements and the distribution of men and women workers at the various levels covered by the agreements.

3. The Committee takes note of Legislative Decree No. 90, issued by the Ministry of Finance. It notes that, from a reading of this text, certain other texts are necessary for an overall interpretation of the Decree; Legislative Decree No. 1608 of 1976, and the Regulations respecting qualifications referred to in section 6 of the Decree, and the single wage scale. The Committee therefore requests the Government to supply copies of these texts with its next report.

4. The Committee refers to the "Summary of Labour News No. 21", of 26 June 1992, distributed by the Permanent Mission of Chile to the international organizations in Geneva, in which reference is made to a study which is being undertaken on "the economic participation of women in Chile", by a group of specialists under the auspices of the National Women's Department. The Committee notes that there is a lack of detailed statistics on the remuneration of women workers and that the Government confines itself to replying that the National Statistical Institute does not disaggregate its data by sex or distinguish between men and women in its work. The Committee requests the Government to supply a copy of the above study with its next report in the hope that it will shed light on the application of the principle set out in the Convention. It also requests the Government to supply statistics on wage rates and the average incomes earned by men and women workers, by occupation, economic sector, seniority and level of qualifications, with an indication of the corresponding percentage of women.

5. In its report the Government refers to the information supplied in 1992 in the report concerning Convention No. 63. The Committee notes that no statistics were attached to the above report, which contains information on the implementation, starting in 1992, of a project to improve the compilation of statistics and their analysis. The Committee therefore refers to the comments which it is making concerning Convention No. 63.