Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2007, Publicación: 97ª reunión CIT (2008)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report.

Article 3, paragraphs 4 and 5, of the Convention. Minimum wage not subject to abatement. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that under the Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (BMBE) Act of 2002 (Republic Act No. 9178), BMBEs or enterprises engaged in the production, processing or manufacturing of products, including agro-processing, as well as trading and services, with total assets of not more than 3 million pesos (PHP) (approximately US$68,000) are exempted from the coverage of the minimum wage legislation. The Government adds that this measure aims at encouraging the growth of Barangay Micro Business Enterprises and concerns some 4,097 registered BMBEs. The Committee is bound to recall, in this connection, that the Convention allows only for limited exceptions in individual cases to prevent curtailment of the opportunities of employment of physically or mentally handicapped workers and therefore the broad exceptions permitted under the abovementioned Act are inconsistent with the requirements of Article 3, paragraph 5, of the Convention and the overriding principle of the binding force of minimum wages. The Committee wishes also to recall that as it pointed out in paragraph 61 of the General Survey of 1992 on minimum wages, the purpose of regulating minimum wages in agriculture is to prevent wages which are much lower than those paid in industry and that the Convention was seen as a way of promoting economic and social conditions that would turn agriculture into a remunerative occupation and lay the foundations for higher standards of living for all agricultural workers. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether and how minimum permissible wage levels are determined for workers engaged in agricultural undertakings covered under the BMBE Act, and also how it is ensured that any such levels are adequate for meeting the basic needs of agricultural workers and their families. The Committee further asks the Government to provide more detailed information on the approximate number of agricultural workers currently exempted from the coverage of the minimum wage legislation.

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. The Committee notes that, as of September 2007, the minimum wage rates in agriculture range from PHP180 to 325 (approximately US$4.1 to 7.5) for the plantation sector, and from PHP170 to 325 (approximately US$3.9 to 7.5) for the non-plantation sector. It also notes that the average daily gross basic pay for agricultural workers rose from US$2.7 in 2004 to US$3.4 in 2006. It further notes the information on the size of the workforce in the agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing industries, which, as of October 2006, amounted to 12.17 million workers, or 34 per cent of the total workforce. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that there are currently no sector-disaggregated data on labour inspection, while the average compliance rate with the minimum wage legislation is 82.6 per cent. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue supplying up to date information on the practical application of the Convention.

Finally, the Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the conclusions of the ILO Governing Body on the continued relevance of the 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). In fact, the Governing Body has decided that Convention No. 99 is among those instruments which may no longer be fully up to date but remain relevant in certain respects. The Committee therefore suggests that the Government should consider the possibility of ratifying the Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131), which marks certain advances compared to older instruments on minimum wage fixing, for instance, as regards its broader scope of application, the requirement for a comprehensive minimum wage system, and the enumeration of the criteria for the determination of minimum wage levels. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this regard.