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

Minimum Wage Fixing Machinery (Agriculture) Convention, 1951 (No. 99) - Comoros (Ratification: 1978)

Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention. Minimum wage fixing machinery. The Committee notes with regret that no minimum wage has yet been established for workers employed in agricultural undertakings and therefore the Convention is presently not implemented in either law or practice. The Committee recalls that based on information provided by the Government under Convention No. 26 in 2003, the Higher Council of Labour and Employment (CSTE) had agreed on a draft text setting the guaranteed interoccupational minimum wage (SMIG) at 35,000 KMF (approximately US$110) per month. To date, however, no decree seems to have been adopted formally determining the SMIG rate. Moreover, the Committee has been requesting detailed information on the terms of reference and rules of procedure of the CSTE, as well as on the coverage and possible periodic review of the minimum wage, but no such information has so far been communicated. Recalling the Government’s earlier statement that the system of remuneration of agricultural workers needs to reviewed to take account of the evolving social conditions, the Committee hopes that the Government will take appropriate steps in order to effectively discharge its obligations under the Convention by reactivating tripartite consultations within the CSTE and determining decent minimum wage levels for agricultural workers.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2009.]