5 May 2008
Maputo — The Mozambican government on Monday approved new statutory minimum wages for nine sectors of activity.
In previous years there have only been two minimum wages, one for industry and services, and one for agriculture. Although it should be more difficult to negotiate nine wages, rather than two, in fact the discussions in April in the Labour Consultative Commission (CCT), the tripartite negotiating forum between the government, the unions and the employers' organisations, were remarkably peaceful. For the first time in several years consensus between the employers and the unions was achieved.
The new minimum wages represent increases of between 10 and 30 per cent. They are as follows:
Sector New monthly minimum wage Percentage increase
Electricity, gas, water 2,139.5 meticais 30 Manufacturing industry 1.975 meticais 20 Financial services 1.942 meticais 18 Non-financial services 1,925.5 meticais 17 Agriculture, livestock and forestry 1,315 meticais 16.7 Construction 1,909 meticais 16 Fisheries 1,892.5 meticais 15 Mining 1,892.5 meticais 15 State employees 1,826 meticais 11
The 11 per cent for the state apparatus also includes the military and police. But since military pay has always been lower, this rise brings the monthly wage of the lowest paid soldier up to 1,566 meticais. The police, however, are better paid than many other state employees: the lowest police wage is 2,345 meticais a month.
There is an exception to the fisheries minimum wage. Companies fishing for kapenta (a fresh water fish exported in large quantities to Zimbabwe) on the Cahora Bassa lake are only obliged to give their workers a ten per cent rise, bringing the monthly minimum wage in this sector to 1,810 meticais.
At current exchange rates, there are about 24.2 meticais to the US dollar. So the highest of the new minimum wages is equivalent to 88.4 US dollars. The lowest paid civil servant earns the equivalent of 75.5 dollars a month. Agricultural workers, despite a rise of almost 17 per cent, remain at the bottom, with a monthly pay packet equivalent to just 54.3 dollars.
The new minimum wages are all backdated to 1 April. Announcing the new wages after they were formally approved by a cabinet meeting on Monday morning, the government spokesperson, Deputy Education Minister Luis Covane, said the CCT negotiations had occurred "in the best way possible", and the results were in line with the performance of the Mozambican economy.
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