Talks between the government and public-sector unions following a prolonged teachers' strike have culminated in a new minimum wage and other measures.
By Mouna Sadek for Magharebia in Algiers – 08/12/09
Civil servants will receive a long-awaited pay rise and back wages dating from January 2008, the Algerian government announced after talks with labor leaders.
"Regardless of when the decree to introduce the new allowances is promulgated, the new allowances will be backdated to 1 January 2008," Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said at a press conference on December 3rd.
Under the agreement, the nation's minimum wage will be increased from the current 12,000 dinars per month to 15,000.
Nearly 300,000 workers in the public sector, who account for 70% of the workforce, will benefit from the change. The pay raise will only apply to workers whose compensation falls below the new minimum wage.
The new pay scale will affect social security, retirement and unemployment benefits. Wages are a key component in calculating those benefits, which go to everyone from white-collar workers and the unemployed to former militants.
Several teachers' unions last month ended a three-week strike after agreeing to resume talks with the government over wage and benefits disputes. On strike since November 8th, the unions were protesting the government's decision to backdate pay raises not from January 2008, as was the unions' demand, but from the date the increases were published in the government's Official Journal.
According to the prime minister's office, the pay raise and the issuance of back wages will cost the treasury an additional 90 million dinars, on top of the 1.34 billion dinars paid in public-sector wages each year.
Some union members are dissatisfied with the new deal.
"The employers and the Algerian General Workers' Union (UGTA) were only there to rubber-stamp a decision which had already been taken," said the leader of an independent union of civil servants, Nassira Ghozlane. "How many [UGTA workers] are really being paid the minimum wage?"
Ghozlane contested the figures put forth by the prime minister.
"Currently, more than 600,000 employees in the sector receive pay of less than 12,000 dinars. If you compare minimum wages across the Maghreb, you'll see that Algeria is in last place, behind Mauritania," she said.
A 2007 study by labor researchers said Algerians being paid the minimum wage can only meet their family's needs for one week out of every month, while the families of workers making 15,000-25,000 dinars a month can survive for only 10 days.
Sabéha, a retired teacher, told Magharebia that she was "delighted" at the increase in her income, but added that it is still not enough to meet her needs.
"There are no concessions being made by shopkeepers; they have no conscience about bleeding customers dry. And no increase in pay could compensate for that," she said.
Sociologist Mohamed Saib Musette said a pay increase would not solve all the ills of the average Algerian worker.
"It's true that the minimum wage's main economic function is to adjust workers' purchasing power," said Musette, a researcher for the Center for Research in Applied Economics for Development. "But ... we shouldn't rule out the fact that a rise in the minimum wage could drive up prices" and stoke inflation.
By Mouna Sadek for Magharebia in Algiers – 08/12/09
Civil servants will receive a long-awaited pay rise and back wages dating from January 2008, the Algerian government announced after talks with labor leaders.
"Regardless of when the decree to introduce the new allowances is promulgated, the new allowances will be backdated to 1 January 2008," Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said at a press conference on December 3rd.
Under the agreement, the nation's minimum wage will be increased from the current 12,000 dinars per month to 15,000.
Nearly 300,000 workers in the public sector, who account for 70% of the workforce, will benefit from the change. The pay raise will only apply to workers whose compensation falls below the new minimum wage.
The new pay scale will affect social security, retirement and unemployment benefits. Wages are a key component in calculating those benefits, which go to everyone from white-collar workers and the unemployed to former militants.
Several teachers' unions last month ended a three-week strike after agreeing to resume talks with the government over wage and benefits disputes. On strike since November 8th, the unions were protesting the government's decision to backdate pay raises not from January 2008, as was the unions' demand, but from the date the increases were published in the government's Official Journal.
According to the prime minister's office, the pay raise and the issuance of back wages will cost the treasury an additional 90 million dinars, on top of the 1.34 billion dinars paid in public-sector wages each year.
Some union members are dissatisfied with the new deal.
"The employers and the Algerian General Workers' Union (UGTA) were only there to rubber-stamp a decision which had already been taken," said the leader of an independent union of civil servants, Nassira Ghozlane. "How many [UGTA workers] are really being paid the minimum wage?"
Ghozlane contested the figures put forth by the prime minister.
"Currently, more than 600,000 employees in the sector receive pay of less than 12,000 dinars. If you compare minimum wages across the Maghreb, you'll see that Algeria is in last place, behind Mauritania," she said.
A 2007 study by labor researchers said Algerians being paid the minimum wage can only meet their family's needs for one week out of every month, while the families of workers making 15,000-25,000 dinars a month can survive for only 10 days.
Sabéha, a retired teacher, told Magharebia that she was "delighted" at the increase in her income, but added that it is still not enough to meet her needs.
"There are no concessions being made by shopkeepers; they have no conscience about bleeding customers dry. And no increase in pay could compensate for that," she said.
Sociologist Mohamed Saib Musette said a pay increase would not solve all the ills of the average Algerian worker.
"It's true that the minimum wage's main economic function is to adjust workers' purchasing power," said Musette, a researcher for the Center for Research in Applied Economics for Development. "But ... we shouldn't rule out the fact that a rise in the minimum wage could drive up prices" and stoke inflation.
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