Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131) - Egypt (Ratification: 1976)

Articles 3 and 4 of the Convention. Minimum wage fixing machinery and criteria for determining minimum wage levels. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that a tripartite Conference on social dialogue as well as a tripartite Conference of the National Council for Wages are currently being prepared with a view to fixing the national minimum wage. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the discussions and practical outcome of these Conferences.

The Committee recalls that a national monthly minimum wage was set at 35 Egyptian pounds (EGP) (approximately US$6) in 1984 and remained unchanged at that level until 2010. The minimum wage was not revised for over 25 years, eventually becoming a subject of increasing social tension, despite the creation in 2003 of the tripartite National Wages Council which was mandated to establish a minimum wage floor and revise it every three years. It was only in 2010 that based on a court decision, the National Wages Council was obliged to fix a minimum wage at EGP400 (approximately US$71).

The Committee understands that in June 2011 the Government announced the increase of the monthly minimum wage from EPG400 to EPG700 (approximately US$117) for private sector employees, effective from January 2012, and also indicated its intention to further increase the minimum wage to EPG1,200 (approximately US$200) within the next five years. The Committee also understands that the Government envisages reforming the National Wages Council in terms of modified composition, greater focus on minimum wages and enhanced social dialogue. The Committee further understands that the Government has solicited and received technical assistance from the Office on issues of minimum wage policy. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would keep the Office informed of further developments concerning the readjustment of the national minimum wage and the reform of the National Wages Council. It would also appreciate receiving a copy of the legal text establishing the current minimum wage.

While welcoming the Government’s efforts to shape a coherent minimum wage policy which would be socially fair but also economically sound, the Committee wishes to refer to the Global Jobs Pact, adopted by the International Labour Conference in June 2009, in response to the global economic crisis, which places particular emphasis on the need to strengthen respect for international labour standards and expressly identifies wages-related ILO instruments as being relevant in order to prevent a downward spiral in labour conditions and build recovery (paragraph 14). The Global Jobs Pact further suggests that governments should consider options such as minimum wages that can reduce poverty and inequity, increase demand and contribute to economic stability (paragraph 23) and points out that, in order to avoid deflationary wage spirals, minimum wages should be regularly reviewed and adapted (paragraph 12). The Committee is therefore bound to recall that determining minimum wage levels within an institutionalized framework of tripartite consultations or negotiations is key to establishing a safety net for the workers at the bottom of the wage scale while periodic review and adjustment of minimum wage rates is an absolute prerequisite to the meaningful operation of any minimum wage system.