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Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Madagascar (RATIFICATION: 1962)

1. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Discriminatory provisions in collective agreements. The Committee recalls its previous observation regarding the unequal remuneration for male and female on-board staff of Air Madagascar, resulting from the difference in the retirement age, which is set at 50 years for men and 45 for women by the applicable collective agreement. It recalls that the Arbitration Council of the Court of First Instance of Antanarivo had declared the relevant provisions of the collective agreement inapplicable on 28 November 1997 on the ground that they constituted discrimination on the basis of sex. On the same matter, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Madagascar had ruled in its judgement of 5 September 2003 in the case of Dugain and others v. Air Madagascar that the courts may annul provisions of collective agreements when they are contrary to public order or to international conventions protecting the rights of women, including the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). The case had then been sent back to the lower court.

2. The Committee notes from the information provided with the Government’s report that the lower court, in its interlocutory judgement No. 01 of 3 February 2005, has stayed its final decision on the matter until the Arbitration Council has rendered its judgement on the appeal lodged by Air Madagascar against the ruling of November 1997. The Committee asks the Government to keep it informed of the progress and the outcome of these proceedings in its next report. It also reiterates its request for information on the impact of these decisions on the employment and remuneration of the relevant male and female staff, as soon as such information is available.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.