Thursday 28 / November / 2024
Muscat: The General Federation of Oman Workers (GFOW), has called for quick solutions by the government to improve the minimum wages for the national workforce.
"According to the statistics published by the competent authorities, it appears that about 24 per cent of Omanis insured in the social insurance system, have wages ranging between OMR 325 and OMR 400 only, and the same data indicates that about half of the insured Omanis receive a wage of less than OMR 500, " Nabhan bin Ahmed Al Batashi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Federation of Oman Workers said.
“We find that the average monthly expenditure of the Omani family is about OMR 757 , according to the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI). This situation calls for the need for rapid intervention and finding solutions to improve the level of wages for the national workforce, and to improve the social protection system to ensure a decent living for the worker and his family."
"The recent economic conditions imposed by the adoption of some taxes, the rise in prices, the gradual lifting of subsidies on a large number of goods and services, the increase in some fees, and the high rates of inflation, whose rates reached 3.6 per cent by the end of March 2022, lead us to the importance of finding quick solutions by the government to improve the minimum wage, and the adoption of the national system for social protection, " Al Batashi said.
The Chairman pointed out that the review of the minimum wage should be based on full consultation between stakeholders. The International Labour Organization Convention No. (131) encourages the establishment of a minimum wage system, the adoption of the principle of consultation with the stakeholders in this regard, and the establishment of a mechanism to amend minimum wage system from time to time, taking into account when determining it the needs of workers and their families, and adopting appropriate measures to ensure its implementation.
