A European Commission initiative on fair minimum wages is needed not only to repair the damage caused by EU economic policies following the 2008 economic crisis but also to deal with the effects of the coronavirus crisis says the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), on the day the Commission launched its 2^nd consultation on minimum wages.

“Many working people had not gotten over the effects of wage austerity from the previous crisis before the new crisis hit us,” said Esther Lynch, Deputy General Secretary of the ETUC.

“When standing for election, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged to ensure that every worker in the EU is paid a fair minimum wage. The consultation document released today is a step forward. It recognizes the need to ensure that workers can negotiate a fair wage by strengthening collective bargaining along with measures that could increase statutory minimum wages as requested by the ETUC. At the same time, it is still not clear how the Commission intends to achieve these objectives.”

“We will continue to press for a clear commitment from the European Commission to ensure that the Member States raise their statutory minimum wages to the level of living wages. This means a level which is at least 60% of the median wage and that is also adequate for a basket of goods and services, agreed at a national level with unions and employers.

Read the full press release here.