ETUC stresses need for action on minimum wages

A new report from the ETUC, as part of its Pay Rise campaign, shows that minimum wage rates across Europe need to rise significantly just to reach an official measure of low pay (60% of the national median wage as used by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Minimum wages in Estonia, Czech Republic and Spain need some of the largest increases to reach the low pay threshold - 46%, 51% and 62% respectively. The ETUC argues that national governments need to sit down with trade unions and employers to discuss how to reach the target.

Workers in half of EU member states are denied the full statutory minimum wage because of their age, occupation or because they are workers with a disability, ETUC research has found. Age is the most common criterion with eight member states deducting up to 70% of the real rate for under-21s. Some member states also allow discrimination against seasonal workers, domestic workers, seafarers or workers with disabilities. The European Commission’s impact assessment of its draft directive on adequate minimum wages states that, rather than facilitating access to the labour market, variations from

The ETUC wants to get down to work on the minimum wage directive following the long-awaited opinion from the EU Council's legal service. The opinion confirms what the ETUC has been arguing all along that a directive is possible and legally based on the protection of working conditions (Article 153(1)(b) TFEU in conjunction with Article 153(2) TFEU). The ETUC is now calling on governments to deliver and work towards a directive that will make it possible “for workers on minimum wages to make ends meet, to pay the rent, to put food on the table for them and their families.” The ETUC added: “The