Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26) - Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (Ratification: 1944)

The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s report, and particularly the adoption of Decree No. 6.052 of 29 April 2008, setting the level of the minimum wage as from 1 May 2008 at 799.23 bolivars (bolívares fuertes) (or around US$372) for all workers, urban or rural, in the private and public sectors, and domestic workers, and at 599.43 bolivars (or around US$279) for apprentices.

Article 3 of the Convention. Consultations with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes the observations made by the Venezuelan Federation of Chambers and Associations of Commerce and Production (FEDECAMARAS), which were received on 27 August 2008 and 27 August 2009 and forwarded to the Government on 4 September 2008 and 7 September 2009, respectively, and the Confederation of Workers of Venezuela (CTV), received on 31 August 2009 and forwarded to the Government on 16 September 2009. These organizations indicate that the Government is not holding the consultations provided for by law for the determination of the minimum wage. More specifically, FEDECAMARAS denounces the fact that the Government has not convened the National Tripartite Commission responsible for making recommendations on the adjustment of the minimum wage for the past nine years and recalls that the minimum wage fixing machinery shall, in accordance with section 167 of the Basic Labour Act, be the outcome of tripartite dialogue between the Government and employers’ and workers’ organizations. FEDECAMARAS also indicates that wage increases have been determined by Presidential Decree without consultation, as invitations to the consultations were issued very late or even after the date of publication of the Decree. The Committee further notes that the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), to the observations of which there has, as yet, been no reply, had raised similar issues. In this respect, the Committee wishes once again to recall that Article 3 of the Convention requires the full and effective consultation of employers’ and workers’ organizations and their participation on an equal footing in the operation of minimum wage fixing machinery. As the Government’s reply was received on 8 December 2009, the Committee intends to examine in detail the matters raised in the above observations at its next session.

Finally, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the conclusions adopted by the ILO Governing Body in relation to the relevance of the present Convention, based on 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 decided to classify Convention No. 26 among those instruments that may no longer be fully up to date but which nevertheless remain relevant in certain respects. The Committee therefore suggests that the Government might consider the possibility of ratifying the Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131), which contains certain advances compared to older instruments on minimum wage fixing, for instance in terms of its broader scope of application, the requirement for a comprehensive minimum wage system and the obligation to determine criteria for fixing and adjusting minimum wage rates. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision adopted or envisaged in this respect.