Minimum wage
The new European directive on the minimum wage has received its final approval from the European finance ministers. Member countries will now have two years to implement it, introducing reforms and legislative initiatives capable of adjusting the minimum wage to rising inflation and the cost of living. Too much delay for the unions, which have asked the states to speed up.According to the directive, the minimum wage must be adjusted using either 60% of the median gross wage or 50 as a reference value. % of the average salary. In most member states, median and average wages are higher than the minimum wages, so it is likely that minimum wages will be raised in the coming years, thanks to the directive. Furthermore, given that these values can change according to various factors, the European Union undertakes to regularly check the adjustment process, so as to have the minimum wage readjusted according to the change in economic conditions.
However, in the current context of economic crisis, with inflation continuing to push higher prices, real minimum wages are decreasing in value and for this reason the unions have called for faster implementation of the directive. "States have no excuse to wait two years to guarantee decent wages, the rising cost of living imposes a social obligation on governments to immediately help low-wage workers," Esther Lynch, from Euractiv, told Euractiv. European Confederation of Trade Unions (Ces).
Furthermore, despite the name, the directive is not only about minimum wages, but also about collective bargaining, requiring member states to develop national action plans to increase collective bargaining coverage in the workforce, if this is less than 80%. Collective bargaining is considerably less than 80% in most European countries, which will therefore have to find ways to increase it, thereby also strengthening trade unions. Finally, European countries will have to introduce control mechanisms to demonstrate how workers can actually access the minimum wages required by the directive and to ensure their right to collective bargaining.
Amazon Has a New Minimum Wage — How It Compares to Other Big Companies
By Saundra Latham of Cheapism | President Joe Biden has endorsed raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, and though Congress hasn't acted, prominent companies have been plumping up workers' paychecks on their own. They include some notable employers that are using higher wages as a way to attract (and keep) workers, including Amazon, which is now raising hourly pay for delivery drivers and warehouse workers to $19 — a number that's becoming less and less of a reach at many companies.
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