Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26) - Benin (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its last report, in particular the adoption of Decree No. 2003-201 of 10 June 2003, which raises the guaranteed interoccupational minimum wage (SMIG) to 27,500 CFA francs (approximately US$54) per month. The Committee also notes the signing of the general collective labour agreement of 30 December 2005, applicable to enterprises in the private and para-public sectors, which contains a number of provisions relating to the minimum wage (for example, sections 60, 61 and 64). In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the annexes to section 83 of the collective agreement concerning the fixing of minimum wages by occupational category as soon as they have been drafted.

Furthermore, the Committee would be particularly interested in receiving concrete information, including statistical data, on recent fluctuations in the real value of the minimum wage and in the purchasing power that it represents in relation to a range of selected commodities. Recalling that the main aim of the Convention is to determine the rates of minimum wage that will enable workers to enjoy a suitable standard of living, the Committee asks the Government to provide its observations concerning the ability of current SMIG rates to meet such an objective and thus contribute to the gradual reduction of poverty and the improvement of social protection for workers.