Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131) - Portugal (Ratification: 1983)

Articles 3 and 4 of the Convention. Machinery for fixing and adjusting minimum wages. The Committee notes the comments of the Confederation of Portuguese Industry (CIP) and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), received on 4 July 2013 and forwarded to the Government on 9 September 2013. It also notes the comments made by the IOE, received on 1 September 2013 and forwarded to the Government on 17 September 2013. The CIP and the IOE first indicate that the implementation of a minimum wage system in 1974 was not preceded by consultation with the social partners. Social dialogue at a confederal level was not institutionalized until 1984, with the creation of the Standing Council for Social Dialogue, which was replaced in 1991 by the Standing Committee for Social Dialogue (CPDS). Today, the minimum wage is adjusted annually by legislative means after consulting the CPDS. The two employers’ organizations emphasize that it is particularly important for all the criteria listed in Article 3 of the Convention, and particularly economic factors such as productivity and the desirability of attaining and maintaining a high level of employment, are taken into consideration in determining the level of minimum wages. The CIP and the IOE also refer to the tripartite agreement concluded in December 2006 concerning the medium-term trends in the minimum wage to achieve the objective of a monthly minimum wage of €500 by 2011. Finally, the CIP and the IOE indicate that the minimum wage has been kept at €485 since 2011 due to the serious economic and financial situation and the Memorandum of Understanding concluded between the Government and the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission.

In its latest report, the Government refers to its commitments under the Economic and Financial Adjustment Programme – which has resulted in the implementation of a set of structural reforms that promote increased productivity and competitiveness in order to create more favourable conditions for the financing of enterprises – and indicates that it is committed to ensuring a wages evolution consistent with the objectives of job creation and improvement of enterprises’ competitiveness. For this reason, the minimum wage has not been adjusted in 2012 nor in 2013, although this question has been discussed several times within the CPDS. The Government indicates that the real evolution of the minimum wage since 1980 has, however, resulted in significant increases of the purchasing power of workers, even if this purchasing power declined in 2011 and 2012. The Government also specifies that the majority of sectors are covered by collective agreements that establish salary scales. Finally, the Government indicates that under section 273(2), of the Labour Code, the workers’ needs, the cost of living, the productivity, and the incomes and prices policy are taken into account in determining the minimum wage. The Committee is aware of the economic constraints facing the Government as well as the reasons of public interest that required the postponement of the minimum wage increase decided previously. It recalls, however, that the key principle of full consultation with, and direct participation of, the social partners on an equal footing in the process of minimum wage fixing should be respected in all circumstances, and even more so when, due to a situation of economic difficulty, it is desirable to seek balanced solutions that are acceptable to all parties. The Committee therefore asks the Government to ensure that in any decision relating to minimum wages, full consultations with, and the direct participation of, employers’ and workers’ organizations on an equal footing are guaranteed within the Standing Committee for Social Dialogue.