Asia and Pacific: ILO call for wage policy

Press release | Bali, Indonesia | 18 April 2013
The Director of the Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ILO-ACTRAV), Dan Cunniah called for the strengthening of wages in the Asia and Pacific region to facilitate job creation and the establishment of social justice in the region.

“We argue and believe that wage is a contributing factor for national development efforts. Fair wage or living wage promotes peace and harmony at the work place and society. It is a vehicle to achieve social justice in a community. It helps to create employment. ILO supports a policy on wage –led employment growth”, said Dan Cunniah during the opening session of a Regional Seminar on Wage Policy, which held in Bali (Indonesia) from 16 to 18 April 2013.

« Many countries in the Asia and the Pacific region lack such protection and that makes workers depend much more on wages only as the source of income. In many countries they depend on minimum wage only ».

The seminar brought together 40 participants from trade unions in 18 countries in Asia and the Pacific region, ITUC-AP,  Global Unions Federations and ILO.

Participants will exchange their experiences to strengthen knowledge base and advocacy on wage trends and wage policies including minimum wage.