ETUC highlights impact of higher minimum wages on gender pay gap

The ETUC used an event in Brussels on 25 February to underline the need for legislation to end pay secrecy clauses, deliver compulsory annual pay audits and the right for workers to request gender pay information from their employers. While information helps, the ETUC also stresses that it is not enough to end inequality in pay and that a directive is needed to empower women workers and their unions to negotiate the changes needed to ensure equal pay in the workplace. Representatives of EPSU joined the action.

In its continuing campaign to underline the importance of implementing a strong and effective directive on minimum wages, the ETUC has release figures showing that the gap in earnings between the richest and poorest Europeans grew in a majority of EU countries over the last decade. The ‘unequal Europe’ report produced by the ETUC and its ETUI research institute shows wage inequality increased in 14 member states between 2010 and 2019, most notably in Hungary, Spain and Belgium. The analysis suggests that trend is the result of a decrease in the share of workers covered by collective bargaining

An ETUC analysis reveals how families will be forced to cut back on Christmas dinner this year as a result of food prices rising up to seven times faster than wages. The ETUC found that food prices – the second highest contributor to inflation after energy – have increased by 18% across the European Union since last winter. In contract, the latest figures indicate that nominal wages are expected to have increased by 4.4% in the EU by the end of this year. The sharpest increases are happening in Slovenia, where food prices are rising 7.6 times quicker than wages, followed by Sweden (6.4), Spain