Mozambique: Covid-19 brings minimum wage negotiations to a halt – Watch

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Mozambique: Covid-19 brings minimum wage negotiations to a halt – Watch

3:33 CAT | 17 Apr 2020

Photo: Miramar

Mozambique’s government announced on Thursday the suspension of negotiations to increase minimum wages in the country due to the impact of Covid-19 on companies.

“Faced with the pandemic, the government and partners decided to immediately suspend the process of minimum wage negotiations for this year”, said the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Margarida Talapa, speaking at a press conference in Maputo.

The minister said the decision aimed to safeguard existing jobs at a time when the business sector is feeling the impact of restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We will analyse, in the Labour Consultative Commission, the conditions to resume the negotiation process, after the normalisation of the situation”, added Margarida Talapa.

The negotiations on the minimum wage in Mozambique were launched on 18 March.

The last update of the minimum wages took place in April last year, when increases ranging from 5% to 12% were approved.

At the time, the civil service had an increase of 5%, bringing the minimum wage to 4,467 meticais (€61 at the current exchange rate), agriculture had an increase of 5.78%, to 4,390 meticais (€60) and industrial fishing increased 5% to 5,370 meticais (€73).

The financial sector, banks and insurance companies registered an increase of 7.2% to 12,660 (€176) and microfinance had an increase of 6.7% to 11,336 meticais (€158).

With a total of 31 cases confirmed since March 22, Mozambique has been in a state of emergency due to Covid-19 during the entire month of April, with schools, entertainment and leisure spaces closed, there is a ban on all types of events and agglomerations, in addition to the suspension of visas.