Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26) - Burundi (Ratification: 1963)

The Committee notes the observations of the Trade Union Confederation of Burundi (COSYBU), received on 30 August 2018, and the Government’s reply.

Article 3 of the Convention. Operation of the minimum wage-fixing machinery. Further to its previous comments in this respect, the Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that it has commissioned two studies, one on an equitable wage policy and the other on the classification of jobs in Burundi, that the fixing of the guaranteed inter-occupational minimum wage (SMIG) will take place in the wake of these studies, and that this will be incorporated into the provisions of the Labour Code, which is being revised. The Committee also notes that: (i) in its observations, COSYBU calls for minimum wage fixing methods and implementing modalities to be established; and (ii) in this respect, the Government states that even if the current SMIG is not satisfactory, the employers fix wages in cooperation with the workers, taking account of the economic situation and the current purchasing power of the general public. The Committee recalls that the last decree fixing the SMIG was adopted in 1988. It notes that section 249(1) of the Labour Code provides that the National Labour Council must be consulted with regard to considering elements that may serve as a basis for fixing the minimum wage and conducting an annual review of minimum wage rates. It also notes that minimum wage rates can be fixed by collective bargaining. The Committee urges the Government to take all the necessary measures to reactivate without delay the review process of the minimum wage rates, as provided for in section 249 of the Labour Code, and to carry out a readjustment of the SMIG in the light of this review. It also requests the Government to provide information in this respect, and also on the minimum wages applicable to various categories fixed by collective agreements in the various branches of activity or in enterprises.

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2019.]