Europe
Figures produced by the ETUC and the European Trade Union Institute show that wages across Europe would have been four times higher than they are now if they had kept pace with productivity. Tracking wage increases against productivity developments the figures for some countries even show productivity rising while real wages have fallen. This was the case in Hungary, Portugal, Romania and Greece.
New figures from the ETUC reveal that workers across Europe would be on average €649.30 better off if wages had kept pace with productivity since 2019. This is more than the €419.48 estimated average cost of Christmas. The ETUC argues that extending and strengthening collective bargaining are key to ensuring that workers’ pay keeps pace with productivity and is urging the French government, which assumes the EU presidency in January, to make swift progress with the Adequate Minimum Wages Directive and its important provisions on collective bargaining.
A new report from the Eurofound research agency analyses trends in collectively negotiated wages compared to productivity over the 2000-2017 period. The report says that: "From an employee perspective...applying harmonised consumer prices, wages per employee have grown more slowly than productivity since the beginning of the millennium and the gap has been widening, despite hourly wages having been more aligned." It adds that: "In most countries with available data (14 EU Member States), there has been a positive wage drift since the early 2000s, indicating that actual wages have grown more
A new report published by the Kommunal municipal workers' union and the Swedish Municipal Pensioners Association reveals that a majority of female pensioners who have retired from the sector cannot survive on the pension alone. Seven out of 10 are dependent on the guaranteed pension and on average they get almost SEK 4000 (€430) less per month than men who have retired from the municipal sector. The data comes from information on 150000 pensioners previously active in the municipal sector. The union is fully aware that urgent action is needed to improve the pay and hours of women in local
