Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Minimum Wage Fixing Machinery (Agriculture) Convention, 1951 (No. 99) - Belize (Ratification: 1983)

Further to its previous request, the Committee notes that, following the adoption of the Wages Regulations (Manual Workers) (Amendment) Order, 2007 (Statutory Instrument No. 15 of 2007), the minimum hourly wage rate for manual workers engaged in agriculture was raised from BZD2.0 to BZD2.5 as from 1 April 2007, it being expected that a single minimum wage of BZD3.0 for all categories of workers will be established by 2010. The progressive readjustment of the minimum wage for agricultural workers over the next three years was part of the recommendations made by the Minimum Wages Council in 2006 with a view to establishing one minimum wage and eliminating the need for multiple worker categories. In this connection, the Committee notes that certain findings of the Minimum Wages Council might be a source of concern, for instance that one in every three persons in Belize is poor and unable to meet basic food and non-food costs, that the poverty rate in rural areas is double compared to the poverty rate in urban areas, and that almost 16 per cent of all workers are remunerated at the minimum pay rate. In the light of these findings, the Committee requests the Government to continue to supply detailed information on the practical application of the Convention, for instance, the approximate number of workers affected by the minimum wage especially in the agricultural sector, statistics on the evolution of the minimum wage in recent years as compared to the evolution of economic indicators such as the inflation rate in the same period, copies of any relevant surveys or reports, labour inspection results concerning compliance with the legislation on minimum wage, etc.