Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26) - Rwanda (Ratification: 1962)

Article 1 of the Convention. Minimum wage rate. The Committee notes the draft ministerial order fixing the guaranteed minimum interoccupational wage (SMIG), which the Government attached to its report. It notes that, under this draft order, the amount of the SMIG would be fixed at 1,000 Rwandan francs (US$1.84) per day. Moreover, the Committee notes that, according to the Government’s report, a scientific study is in progress which will contribute to fixing the minimum wage. It requests the Government to transmit to the Office a copy of this ministerial order once it has been adopted. The Government is also requested to send a copy of the abovementioned scientific study once it is available. Moreover, since this study has not yet been completed, the Government is requested to confirm whether the amount of 1,000 Rwandan francs specified in the draft ministerial order is purely indicative and to explain on what basis this amount has been determined. In this regard, the Committee recalls that, as emphasized in Part III of the Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Recommendation, 1928 (No. 30), which supplements the Convention, “for the purpose of determining the minimum rates to be fixed, the wage-fixing body should in any case take account of the necessity of enabling the workers concerned to maintain a suitable standard of living”. While noting that the draft ministerial order fixing the SMIG defines the latter as “the minimum wage common to all occupations, sufficient to guarantee a suitable standard of living to workers by meeting essential needs with regard to clothing, lodging, health and transport”, the Committee requests the Government to supply all relevant information showing in what way the need to ensure a suitable standard of living for the workers concerned is actually taken into account in determining the amount of the SMIG. Moreover, in view of an annual inflation rate of nearly 10 per cent which prevails in the country, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate whether it plans to establish a mechanism for periodically revising the amount of the SMIG.

Article 3, paragraph 2(1). Consultation of employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes the Government’s statement to the effect that consultations have taken place, with a view to determining the amount of the SMIG, between the representative employers’ organization (Rwandan Federation of the Private Sector (FRSP)) and workers’ organizations (Confederation of Trade Unions of Rwanda (CESTRAR), the National Council of Free Trade Unions (COSYLI) and the Congress of Labour and Fraternity (COTRAF)). It requests the Government to supply all available information on the outcome of these consultations (for example, summary records of meetings, official positions adopted by the various organizations concerned, etc.), and also on any institutional framework which the Government might consider setting up, if appropriate, in order to hold such consultations on a regular basis (for example, the setting up of a tripartite wages commission).

Part V of the report form. The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the application of the Convention in practice, particularly on minimum wage rates in force in the various sectors of activity; the extent to which the system enables effective poverty reduction, particularly in agriculture, given its importance in the economy of the country; the impact of structural adjustment policies devised by the international financial institutions; monitoring of the observance of minimum wage rates by employers and steps taken to put a stop to any infringements.

Finally, the Committee takes this opportunity to draw the Government’s attention to the conclusions adopted by the ILO Governing Body on the basis of the recommendations of the Working Party on Policy regarding the Revision of Standards (GB.283/LILS/WP/PRS/1/2, paragraphs 19 and 40). The Governing Body considered that Convention No. 26 was one of the instruments which were no longer fully up to date but were still relevant in certain respects. The Committee therefore suggests that the Government consider the possibility of ratifying the Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131), which represents a degree of progress in comparison with previous instruments concerning the fixing of a minimum wage, for example by providing for a broader scope, the setting up of a general minimum wage system and, finally, the adoption of certain criteria for determining minimum wage levels. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or contemplated in this regard.