Minimum Wage

A controversial legal opinion calling for the annulment of the Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages (AMWD) was based on a “historically mistaken” reading of EU law that failed to consider established case law.  

The most important piece of workers’ legislation at EU level in a generation may be under threat following a non-binding opinion issued today.  Mr Emiliou, who was acting as Advocate General to the Court of Justice of the European Union, has today delivered a highly controversial opinion [Case C-19/23] on the case supported by two member states against the Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages. 

The practice of paying people with disabilities below the legal minimum must be stopped as part of the rollout of the EU minimum wage directive. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is making the call during European Disabilities Week.

The general strike taking place in Greece today shows the need for national governments to fully deliver on the minimum wage directive.A 24-hour nationwide walkout is underway to demand government action over the falling purchasing power of working people caused by low pay and skyrocketing rents and prices.The average salary for a full-time worker last year was €17,013, equivalent to levels during the peak of the debt crisis in 2014-2015.

Most European governments have failed to meet the deadline to put the minimum wage directive into national law – and some are actively working against the aims of the directive. More than 20 million people should get a pay rise if the directive is properly implemented by member states, with minimum wages which meet the cost-of-living and more workers covered by collectively bargained wages. 

The majority of EU member states have still not started the process of putting the minimum wage directive into national law – just weeks before the deadline for implementation.Around 20 million workers should benefit from the directive which requires member states with statutory minimum wages to ensure they are adequate, and for all member states to promote collective bargaining.

EU member states should follow the UK Government in tackling age-based pay discrimination by eliminating lower rates of statutory minimum wages for young people.

The number of workers who can’t afford a week’s holiday has increased by more than two million, an analysis of EU data for the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has found.An estimated 39.7 million working people (15%) could not afford a week’s holiday away from home, either in their own country or abroad, in 2022 – up from 37.6 million (14%) in 2021.The biggest increase in holiday poverty came in France, where almost a million more hardworking people were forced to stay at home. The biggest percentage point changes came in Ireland (+3.8%) and France (+2.5%).

The directive on minimum wages and collective bargaining has today received its final approval after a two-year legislative process and a long campaign by trade unions. Member states must now take action to ensure that they have laws and practices in place in time to meet the two-year deadline for transposition of the Directive following its formal adoption by the Council of the EU’s meeting of finance ministers this morning. The ETUC is calling on Members States to immediately follow the example in Germany by raising wages. 

Europe took an important step towards ending poverty pay today as the Directive on adequate minimum wages cleared its final vote in the European Parliament with a convincing majority of 505 MEPs in favour, 92 against and 44 abstentions.

Europe’s lowest paid workers have seen the value of their wages fall by up to 19 per cent this year, representing the biggest fall in real minimum wages this century, an ETUC analysis of Eurostat data has found.  

An autumn of action is on the agenda for trade unions in the UK. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is calling for a minimum wage of £15 (€17.35), help with soaring energy bills, and a real pay rise for every worker.

The European Commission has supported the view of trade unions that it is price rises,  particularly for energy, that are the primary driver of inflation rather than wages. In its summer economic forecast, the Commission says both that “surging prices of energy remain the main inflation driver” and “a persistent feedback loop between wages and inflation is unlikely to develop” as real terms wage growth remained negative.

Germany’s new government is to raise the country's minimum wage to €12 per hour in October, following a strong campaign for a higher wage floor by the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB). The increase of nearly 15% will benefit nearly 6.2 million low-paid workers – two thirds of them women – making up 10% of the country’s workforce and giving Germany the second-highest minimum wage in Europe after Luxembourg.

The gap in earnings between the richest and poorest Europeans grew in a majority of EU countries over the last decade, according to a new report which underlines the need for EU action to end poverty pay. The ‘unequal Europe’ report released today 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 Estonian Trade Union Confederation (EAKL) and the Estonian Employers' Confederation have reached a deal on raising the country’s minimum monthly salary by €70 in 2022, to €654. The hourly wage will increase to €3.86. Minimum wages should also be decoupled from other benefits, such as child support payments.

Workers in half of EU member states are being deprived of the statutory minimum wage based on their age, occupation or because they are workers with disability, ETUC research has found.Workers are most commonly excluded from statutory minimum wages and are paid below-minimum rates based on age discrimination, with 8 member states deducting up to 70% of the real rate for under-21s.​An 18-year-old working full time in the Netherlands would earn just 10.917 Euro in a year instead of the 21.835 Euro minimum (excluding vacation payments).