(b) The Guaranteed Minimum Agricultural Wage (SMAG) for the agricultural sectors.

At the same time, manual workers apos wages in the private sector are much lower than in the public sector.

It should be emphasized that the phenomenon of lower wages in the private sector than in the public sector only concerns manual workers apos wages, for non manual workers being higher in the private sector.

(a) The Guaranteed Minimum Inter professional Wage (SMIG) for the non agricultural sectors

AND ECONOMIC SECTOR, 1992 (minimum wages)

Wages are very low, and although they have increased considerably, they are still insufficient wages have increased by 22 per cent in the public sector and as much as 300 per cent in the private sector over the last two years.

The fixed minimum wage valid for the whole country is the focal point in the negotiations on determining wages in the different production branches.

The employer bound by a collective contract has to determine in its labour rules, developed in coordination with the union, the lowest salary, which cannot be lower than the lowest salary determined by the branch union.

46. In addition, the minimum wage is subject to adjustments in different production branches.

79. Table 9 shows that in several branches of the private sector wages are lower than in the public sector, whereas in others, especially the information media, they are as much as three times higher.

The Committee notes with concern the absence of a minimum wage in the private sector.

Most people from the lower strata of the population work in the informal sector two fifths (39 ) of workers in this sector are from the lower strata, in contrast with a quarter (24 ) in the formal sector.

As a result of the latter ratification, the legislature found it necessary to harmonize the wages of women working in agriculture with those of men in the same category, thereby ending the system of a 15 per cent abatement on women agricultural workers apos wages.

Right to minimum wages Article 84 of the Latvian Labour Code prescribes The minimum wage (per hourly tariff rates, the monthly wages and the basic monthly salary) shall be established by the CM of the Republic of Latvia .

In the public sector 81.2 of employees have incomes exceeding twice the minimum wage, whereas only 52.6 of employees in the private sector are in this income group.

As regards the total numbers of persons receiving minimum wages in the formal private sector of the economy, in May 2004, out of 11.75 million workers paying contributions to the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), 913,741 workers, or 7.9 of the total, were receiving minimum wages 30.2 were receiving more than the minimum wage but not more than twice that amount, while the remaining 61.8 were receiving more than twice the minimum wage.

According to the 1994 National Household Survey, low wages are the rule in the rural sector as a whole and constitute one of the reasons for the lower living standards.

It is also concerned that the minimum wage in the public sector is not applicable to non Kuwaiti citizens.

(ii) Public sector wages

Average annual wage (in leva)

Private sector wages as of public sector wages

They receive low wages relative to those working in the organized sector and have insecure employment contracts (if contracts exist at all).

In March 1994 the minimum wage was received by 2.5 per cent of people employed in the national economy (of which in the public sector 0.9 per cent and in the private sector 5.1 per cent) and in September 1994, 2.8 per cent of the total number of people employed (of which in the public sector 0.9 per cent and in the private sector 6.7 per cent).

Wage earners (public sector)

Wage earners (private sector)

Wages in the public and private sector

VI. The minimum wages which workers must enjoy shall be general or occupational.

Men earn their lowest wages in the services, shopkeeper sales and non agricultural categories, in similar proportions as for women.

According to the general collective contract, concluded in May 2000, the lowest salary is determined by branch collective contracts, and it cannot be below 55 per cent of the average salary in the Federation, as per the latest published statistical data.

Average wages in higher education

The general wage pattern in this sector is that of a large number of workers earning 10 to 20 per cent more than in enterprises of the same branch in the private sector.

Currently women dominate in such employment sectors as education, health care, social care, and their average wages as well possibilities of career growth are lower than in the sectors dominated by men.

This makes it possible to agree on a more just differentiation of wages for different branches, since the minimum wage determined on an average basis for the whole country does not necessarily comply with the specific working conditions and requirements of all production branches.

This gap is larger in the private sector where manual workers apos wages in 1993 amounted to only 69.6 per cent of white collar workers apos wages.

(i) Wages in sectors governed by collective agreements

The minimum salary of a teacher with the lowest professional qualifications must not be below the amount that is equal to two minimum monthly salaries.

On the other hand, the income and quality of work of people engaged in the informal sector are in general considerably lower than those of workers in the formal sector.

The Committee is further concerned that in practice the minimum wage is not always enforced, given the large percentage of the population that works in the informal sector.

140. The wages and salaries of the public service employees are fixed in autonomous wage negotiations between the public employers of the federal, State and local governments on the one hand and the trade unions of the public service on the other.

65. The lower wages of women vis à vis men are a persistent phenomenon, due mainly to the employment of women in less remunerated sectors of the economy.

77. The ratio of wages in the private to those in the public sector in the years 1991 to 1994 are as follows (in )

She also asked whether any work had been undertaken to compare the low salaries in female dominated public sector employment like teaching and medicine with salaries in the male dominated parts of the public sector.

It has always established a minimum level, guaranteed by the State, of total or part of remuneration for work.

The LSMS analysis showed that 18 per cent of employees in the informal sector were under 25, and 7 per cent in the formal sector, the main reason being the level of the minimum wage.

Where job growth has taken place, it has been concentrated in insecure, informal employment with low wages and few benefits.