Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26) - Belgium (Ratification: 1937)

The Committee notes the Government’s report along with the attached documentation. The Committee recalls that in its last comment it noted certain concerns of the Government on the relevance of the Convention in the light of the general situation of the Belgian economy and requested the Government to supply information on the measures taken or contemplated to modify the minimum wage fixing machinery and any other measures which would affect the application of the Convention. In its reply, the Government indicates that the legislative machinery and regulations on determining remuneration have not been modified and that collective labour agreements continue to be concluded as before. The Committee notes also the Government’s statement that no measure is currently contemplated to modify wage-fixing systems in Belgium.

The Committee recalls once again that the Convention, far from being a wages policy instrument, merely lays down the basic principles which must be applied to any wage-fixing machinery, for example, the obligation to consult the social partners, the right of organizations of employers and workers to be associated in the operation of the machinery on equal terms, the need for a system of supervision and sanctions and the compulsory character of the minimum wage. Referring to the comments made by the Government in its latest report, the Committee requests it to continue to communicate in future reports information of a general nature on the evolution of minimum wages as well as on any measure affecting the establishment, application or review of methods for fixing and adjusting minimum salaries payable to the groups of wage earners protected by the Convention.