Mozambique: Partners schedule minimum wage discussions for October

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Mozambique: Partners schedule minimum wage discussions for October

2:56 CAT | 11 Sep 2020

File photo: MITESS

At the request of the Mozambican Workers’ Organisation (OTM), the country’s largest union representative, the Mozambican government, unions and employers have scheduled annual minimum wage negotiations for October.

“We presented a proposal for the discussion on the minimum wage to the first annual session of the Consultative Committee on Labour (CCT), and the item was scheduled for October,” OTM-Central Sindical spokesperson Damião Simango told Lusa.

Damião Simango noted that workers understood that the government, the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA) employer’s organisation and the unions would first have to clarify the impact of Covid-19 in the economic sectors, and its effect on wages.

“We are not demanding, from the outset, an increase in wages, but a clarification on what is possible in each sector in relation to this matter, taking into account the impact of Covid-19,” Simango said.

A broad and inclusive debate on the impact of Covid-19 between the social partners would allow each economic sector to take a position on the possibility of increasing the minimum wage, he stressed.

“There are sectors of activity that have neither stopped nor reduced production capacity, so they may be in a position to increase wages, if there is persuasion through dialogue,” the OTM spokesman added.

Damião Simango criticised the alleged use of the Covid-19 by some companies to hold down wages, even though they had registered no fall in turnover.

The official minimum wage currently in force in Mozambique is 4,266 meticais (€50.00), and is applied to kapenta fishermen.

Minimum salaries for each of nine recognised economic sectors in Mozambique are usually fixed in the first half of each year by the Council of Ministers on the basis of the CTT proposal.

Source: Lusa