KIGALI, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda's trade unions on Tuesday made a fresh appeal for the government at the national Labor Day celebrations to expedite setting up of a new minimum wage.
There is need to fast track the setting up of a new minimum wage as part of efforts to improve relations between workers and employers in the country, said Martin Rugema, head of Rwanda Workers Trade Union Confederation, in Rubavu district, western Rwanda.
Workers in the informal sector in rural areas need at least 87,000 Rwandan francs (101 U.S. dollars) minimum wage while those in urban areas need a minimum wage of at least 126,000 Rwandan francs (147 U.S. dollars), according to a survey of the trade union Labor Congress and Workers' Brotherhood in Rwanda.
The government is in the process of reviewing the 2009 labor law currently in parliament to comply with international labor obligations, said Minister of Public Service and Labour Fanfan Rwanyindo at the celebrations.
Under the labor law being revised, a ministerial order of the minister of labor will set up a minimum wage for various professions in the informal and formal sector.
The ministerial order setting up the minimum wage will be published once the new labor law is in place, said Rwanyindo.
"The process of setting up a minimum wage is at an appreciable level," the minister said.
Rwanda's current minimum wage was set at 100 Rwandan francs (0.11 U.S. dollars) per day in the 1980s. Labor unions argue that it is outdated and not in line with the current cost of living.
This year's International Labor Day was in Rwanda marked under the theme "Promote productive employment for rapid development."
