1. I Dudley Seers, ‘The Mechanism of an Open Petroleum Economy’, in Social and Economic Studies (Mar 1964).
2. In Lebanon, for example, the oil industry minimum wage is £L235 a month, while the prevailing minimum in the rest of the economy is £L150. [U.S. Department of Labor, Labor Law and Practice in Lebanon B.L.S. Report No. 304 (1966) 71.] In Uganda in 1966 the oil industry minimum was 266 E.A. shillings, the statutory minimum 150 shillings. The tobacco companies in East Africa have minimum rates almost twice as high as the legal minima.
3. Uganda Government, Report of the Board of Inquiry into a Wages Increase Claim in Respect of Group Employees in the Uganda Public Service (Entebbe 1966) 8.
4. African countries. In Guatemala, for example, the ratio of average hourly earnings, electrical fitters to labourers, was 7:1 in the early 1960’s. The ratio of carpenters’ wages to unskilled labourers’ wages in construction was 5:1 (U.S. Department of Labor, Labor Law and Practice in Guatemala B.L.S. Report No. 223, 1962.) In Saudi Arabia in 1960, the median ratio of carpenters’ and auto mechanics’ wage rates to labourers’ wage rates in seven construction firms, was 328. (U.S. Department of Labor, Labor Law and Practice in Saudi Arabia B.L.S. Report No. 269, p. 36.) In Singapore (Sarawak) in 1963, the ratios between government skilled and unskilled rates was 250. In Egypt, average weekly earnings of semi-skilled workers in all industries were more than three times as high as unskilled earnings in 1960. (U.S. Department of Labor, Labor Law and Practice in the United Arab Republic (Egypt), B.L.S. Report No. 275, p. 69.) Eriksson analysed skill differentials in seven Latin American countries using straight-time rates of highly skilled ‘maintenance type’ craftsmen (electricians, lathe operators, mechanics). The mean of the mean differentials for these three occupations in 1960–62 was as follows in each of the countries: Argentina: 123; Brazil: 193; Chile: 186; Colombia: 190; Mexico: 194; Peru: 210; Venezuela: 216. (J. R. Eriksson, ‘Wage Structure and Economic Development in Selected Latin American Countries: A Comparative Analysis’. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California Rerkeley, p. 69.)
5. In 1947–8, for example, the starting base salary of the lowest-paid government employee was Rs 30 a month and dearness allowance was Rs 25. In 1957 base pay was still Rs 30 and dearness allowance was Rs 45, though part of dearness allowance was being treated as ‘pay’ for retirement and other purposes. After the consolidation of dearness allowances in 1960, employees receiving base pay of up to Rs 150 a month received Rs 10 in dearness allowance. Those on base pay of Rs 150 to Rs 300 received dearness allowance of Rs 20. For base rates above Rs 300, no dearness allowance is provided. [Ministry of Finance, Government of India, Report of the Commission of Enquiry on Emoluments and Conditions of Service of Central Government Employees 1957–9 (hereafter referred to as Report of the Commission of Enquiry) ch. ix, esp. table v, p. 78; and A. J. Fonseca, Wage Determination and Orgeanised Labour in India (1964) appendix ii. table 4.1