2023-05-02 00:59:12
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Like the international community, Benin commemorates Labor Day on Monday, May 1, 2023. On this occasion, the Minister of Labor and Public Service, Adidjatou Mathys, addressed the Nation. In her message, she recalled the efforts made by the government and the results obtained in relation to the management of the essential concerns of the workers, namely the improvement of working conditions, the increase in the purchasing power of the population, the strengthening of social protection, etc. At the same time, the Minister reassures the workers that the government will not stop pursuing its efforts with a view to satisfying their various demands. She, however, invited them to assume with patriotism and responsibility, their professional obligations for a better performance in business and in public services. Read his entire message.
Message from Minister of Labor and Public Service Adidjatou MATHYS
Beninese men and women;
Ladies and gentlemen employers;
Dear workers of Benin;
Ladies and gentlemen,
Our country Benin, like other countries in the world, commemorates this day, Monday May 1, 2023, the International Labor Day.
This celebration, as you know, draws its essence from the struggles waged by the working class of the United States of America at the end of the 19th century to reduce working hours to eight (08) hours a day in companies.
On this occasion, on behalf of the Government, I would like to wish all workers a happy holiday.
I would also like to pay a glowing tribute to our fellow workers in all sectors of activity who, through their intelligence and hard work, have contributed or continue to contribute to the development and prosperity of our country.
I also express all my sympathy to the workers who, in one way or another, have suffered inconveniences because of or during the exercise of their professional activities.
My thoughts go particularly to those who left us prematurely, victims of accidents at work or occupational diseases.
Dear compatriots,
Ladies and gentlemen,
International Labor Day is not just a ritual, it offers the opportunity to reflect on professional relations.
In this process, it is useful to recall the efforts made by the Government and the results obtained in relation to the management of the essential concerns of workers, namely the improvement of working conditions, the increase in the power of purchase of the population, the strengthening of social protection, etc. These achievements relate in particular to the revaluation of the wages of workers in the public and private sectors by raising the value of the index point by 3% and the institution of a salary supplement for the benefit of State agents, civil servants or contractual under public law, from December 1, 2022. The annual financial impact of this revaluation amounts to more than 60 billion FCFA per year.
In this vein, the Government obtained from the employers, the raising of the Guaranteed Interprofessional Minimum Wage (SMIG) by 30% to increase it from forty thousand (40,000) CFA francs to fifty-two thousand (52,000) CFA francs, for from January 1, 2023.
The achievements also relate to:
• the increase of two (02) months of salary to Aspirants to the teaching profession (AME), allowing them to now benefit from eleven (11) months of salary against nine (09) previously;
• the authorization of the transfer to the jobs of contract agents under public law of the State (ACDPE), aspirants to the teaching profession with a seniority of at least three (03) years and who have successfully passed the test assessment;
• improving the purchasing power of all citizens in general and workers in particular, through the injection, in direct subsidies as well as waiver of taxes, of nearly 130 billion FCFA since March 2022;
• the authorization by the Council of Ministers in January 2023, of the lifting of the sanctions imposed on the 305 teachers who opposed a refusal to take part in the evaluation of knowledge and their reinstatement in the Public Service;
• the ongoing reassignment to the body of civil servants of all contract employees under public law who obtained an average greater than or equal to 10 out of 20 on the occasion of this evaluation;
• the recruitment of eighty (80) justice auditors for the Ministry of Justice and Legislation and thirty (30) hospital interns for the Ministry of Health;
• the inclusion in 2022 of three thousand (3,000) young people as part of the youth integration project and the special program for integration into employment;
• the employment of more than 6,000 young Beninese in the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone;
• universal access to quality health care for the populations of sixty-nine (69) out of the seventy-seven (77) municipalities. To this end, it should be noted that the most vulnerable people of the Beninese population, namely the extreme poor, benefit from free health care.
Dear compatriots,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Government is aware that these results should not obscure the many challenges that remain to be met. In its constant quest to improve the working conditions of agents, the Government will continue its efforts with a view to satisfying the collective demands of the workers as long as they are sustainable by the financial resources available from the State.
In this regard, I can reassure you of the Government’s desire to make social dialogue the tool of a useful and responsible partnership to establish and maintain a good business climate essential to the development and improvement of workers’ living conditions.
With regard to sectoral claims, they are examined thanks to the regular functioning of the joint administrative commissions set up within the ministries.
I would like to assure you that the major concern of President Patrice TALON and his Government is to build together with all the citizens of our country in general, and the workers in particular, the development of our country, to make it a beautiful nation. and prosper.
In this dynamic, I invite workers at various levels to assume with patriotism and responsibility, their professional obligations by their effective presence, their punctuality and their attendance at their various workstations with a view to better performance in companies and public services.
To conclude, I would like to count on the effective commitment of the general secretaries of the trade union centers and confederations of workers and employers, for the construction of a Benin where peace and social justice reign.
I renew, here, my commitment and that of the Government to spare no effort for the consolidation of all fundamental rights at work, an essential pillar of decent work.
It is with these words that I would like once again to wish a happy Labor Day to all the workers of our country.
Long live Labor Day!
Long live the workers of Benin!
Long live Benin!
Thank you.
#Government #assurances #wellbeing #workers