ÖGB Welcomes Deal – EU: Uniform Minimum Wage Standards

Date:

EU countries and the European Parliament have agreed on uniform standards for minimum wages in the European Union. Parliament’s negotiator Dennis Radtke said the compromise includes standards for setting, updating and enforcing statutory minimum wages. In addition, the draft law requires EU countries to draw up action plans to increase the coverage of collective bargaining if the percentage is below 80 percent. ÖGB chairman Wolfgang Katzian also welcomes the first agreement.

It will significantly improve the lives of millions of employees, says CDU politician Radtke. The EU countries have announced that statutory minimum wages will have to be updated at least every two years in the future. There is an exception for countries that use an automatic indexing mechanism. A term of four years applies here. According to the information, the social partners should be involved in the procedures for setting and updating the minimum wage.

Both sides have yet to formally confirm the compromise. The EU countries then have two years to transpose the directive into national law. In October 2020, the European Commission had already submitted a legislative proposal. With the agreement that has now been reached, there was the challenge that the EU treaties set narrow limits: because the European Union cannot set specific wage levels, but can only give guidelines.

98% covered by collective agreements
In total, 25.3 million workers would benefit from the EU directive, said European Parliament Vice-President Evelyn Regner (SPÖ). States with a high percentage of collective agreements, such as Austria, where 98 percent of all workers are already covered by collective agreements, do not need to introduce minimum wages. “In addition to balancing the polarization in the labor market, closing the gender pay gap is an important factor addressed by this directive,” says Regner. 60% of the minimum wages are women, whose situation will be significantly improved by a fair minimum wage in the European labor market.

ÖGB also welcomes the first agreement
The ÖGB also celebrated “good news for millions of workers in Europe: their wages could improve significantly,” said ÖGB president Wolfgang Katzian. “Due to its geographic location, we would of course benefit from higher minimum wages in the EU,” he emphasized. Austria is a hotspot for labor mobility with many commuters from neighboring countries.

ÖVP MEPs also welcomed the agreement: “The agreement on Europe-wide minimum wage standards is a milestone on the road to a more social European Union,” said Othmar Karas, First Vice-President of the EU Parliament. “The Austrian model of social partnership is being strengthened across Europe.” The Austrian collective agreement system will not be undermined, said Lukas Mandl.

Source: Krone

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe

Popular

More like this
Related

Criticism from the Greens – Minister Raab invited to the “Leitkultur” panel of experts

Integration Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP) is starting to design...

Topics to Strasbourg? – Poland is now investigating Russian espionage

Suspicions of Russian espionage in Poland are becoming increasingly...

More than 25 degrees possible – The Easter weekend could bring the first day of summer

The Easter weekend will not only be very spring-like,...