Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26) - Guinea-Bissau (Ratification: 1977)

The Committee notes the observations of the National Union of Workers of Guinea-Bissau – Union Center (UNTG-CS) received on 19 April 2025, the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), received on 1 September 2025, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), received on 2 September 2025 and the African Regional Organization of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) received on 11 September 2025.

Follow-up to the conclusions of the Committee on the Application of Standards (International Labour Conference, 113 th Session, June 2025)

Article 3 of the Convention. Operation of the minimum wage-fixing machinery. The Committee notes the discussion that took place in the Conference Committee in June 2025 concerning the application of the Convention and the fact that the case had already been discussed in the Conference Committee in 2023. It notes that the Conference Committee requested the Government, in consultation with the social partners, to take effective and time-bound measures to: (i) guarantee, without further delay, the independence of the trade unions to enable them genuinely and effectively to represent their members; (ii) review the minimum wage for both the public and private sectors without further delay in accordance with the Convention; (iii) establish the minimum wage fixing machinery in order to fix and update the minimum wage on a regular basis; (iv) strengthen social dialogue, including the machinery for consultations with workers’ and employers’ organizations, by ensuring their independence and autonomy in law and practice; and (v) provide detailed statistical and other information on the measures taken in this regard, including on the tripartite consultations that have taken place on the minimum wage. The Conference Committee also requested the Government to avail itself of the technical assistance of the ILO.

The Committee notes with deep regret that the Government’s reports of 2024 and 2025 have not been received. The Committee reminds the Government of the possibility of availing itself of the technical assistance of the Office in this regard.

The Committee notes with regret that, in its observations, the ITUC indicates that: (i) since 1988 when a decree setting the minimum wage was adopted, minimum wages have stagnated without significant adaptations, except for a small adjustment for the public sector in 2018 which is insufficient compared with real prices; (ii) the Government has refused to include the UNTG-CS – the most representative trade union in the country – in the planned consultations, or its Secretary-General, which violates Article 2 of the Convention; (iii) the minimum wage-setting mechanism is not yet in operation and wages continue to decline; (iv) the situation is becoming increasingly unsustainable for workers due to inflation and the rising cost of living, pushing them into poverty; (v) there is a persistent lack of social dialogue and independent trade union organizations are under attack; and (vi) the representative trade union, the UNTG-CS, continues to be the subject of suspicion and open hostility from the Government. The Committee also notes that the ITUC-Africa stresses that over 50 per cent of the population in the country is below the poverty line and that wages are stagnant. It also notes that for its part, the UNTG-CS states that the Government did not follow the 2023 Conference Committee’s recommendations in a context in which the cost of living significantly increased with the rapid acceleration of inflation and wages did not move.

Moreover, the Committee notes that in its observations, the IOE hopes that progress will be made in the application of the Convention in line with the Conference Committee’s conclusions and in close consultation with the most representative employers’ organization in Guinea-Bissau.

The Committee also notes with regret that the consultations which were to be held in April 2024 with the technical assistance of the ILO could not take place due to the Government’s refusal to allow the UNTG-CS to participate in them. Based on the above information, the Committee deplores the lack of progress made regarding the setting of the minimum wage-fixing machinery and its application in consultation with the most representative organizations. The Committee therefore once again urges the Government to take all necessary measures to follow up on the conclusions of the Conference Committee without delay. It requests the Government to provide detailed information on the measures taken in this regard, including on the tripartite consultations that have taken place on the minimum wage.

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2027.]