Mauritian Govt.Approves Equivalent of #92,520.As New Minimum Wage

The Mauritian government has approved a new minimum wage package totaling 9,000 Mauritian rupees per month (US$257) from next year.‎

The new minimum wage package which is equivalent to N92,520, was approved after years of campaigning by trade unions in Mauritius.

The new wage package announced in parliament is Rs 8,140 (US$232), but various compensation payments by the government or the Mauritius Revenue Authority will mean that workers will earn a total of Rs 9,000 (US$257).

The labour minister for Mauritius, Soodesh Callichurn, assured workers that for 2019, employees will not be paid less than 9,000 rupees. He said the new minimum wage package will benefit around 120,000 workers in the country.

The labour unions said the wage increase will benefit many workers, particularly those in the textile sector, some of whom were averaging only RS 4,000 (US$114) a month,

The unions estimate that 90% of workers in the Mauritian textile and garment industry are women and that conditions are tough and many need to stand all day while they work.

They said once the new minimum wage comes into effect, these garment workers will be paid RS 9,000 for a 45-hour week, meaning they will no longer have to work such long hours to scrape a living.

However, the new minimum wage package still below what trade unions judge to be a living wage, calculated at around RS 14,500 (US$414) in 2014.

Meanwhile, the minister for labour and productivity, Chris Ngige, on Monday, March 5, assured Nigerian workers that implementation of a new minimum wage in the country would be done.

He said the committee set up for that purpose by the federal government had already started work.

Ngige gave the assurance while speaking with journalists shortly after witnessing the swearing in of newly-elected chairmen of the 18 local government councils in Edo at the Government House, Benin.

The minister said that the minimum wage review committee, with him as deputy chairman, would submit final report in the third quarter of the year to the National Assembly for due consideration.