Employers and the ministry: against a uniform minimum wage in the EU

The European Commission on October 28 this year. He proposed a new directive that proposed that the minimum wage be set at at least 50 percent of the national median wage or 60 percent. the median wages in the country (earnings an average worker receives, ranging from lowest to highest).

The Deputy Minister of Social Security and Labor, Eglė Radišauskienė, presented to the Tripartite Council that a new directive from the European Commission, which proposes to regulate the setting of the monthly minimum wage (MMA), would be relevant for Lithuania. This directive, if adopted, would not apply only to those countries that have already adopted broad collective agreements and that have set a sufficiently high MMA.

“What is the essence of the directive? In the first place, it is to promote collective bargaining or establish the MMA in legal acts”, says E. Radišauskienė.

He presented that the directive would regulate that the MMA could not be less than 50%. average salary.

“Basically, this directive encourages member states to strengthen social dialogue and negotiate wages,” says E. Radišauskienė.

He explained that the directive would apply to those countries where the coverage of collective agreements is less than 70 percent, while in Lithuania this indicator reaches 20 percent.

“However, our position is that the introduction of a payment system in the Member States could not be enshrined in a directive, but could be more prescriptive. In our opinion, the directive potentially violates the competence of the Member States to regulate the wages at the national level, violates the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, ”said E. Radišauskienė.

E. Radišauskienė explained that the directive may not comply with the principles of equal opportunities and fair pay for work, the principle of reducing the administrative burden. She assessed that Lithuania has a well-established procedure for determining MMA, which is appropriate.

At present, in Lithuania, the MMA is also determined taking into account the changes in the average salary and the forecasts of the Bank of Lithuania, but for several years a consensus was not reached in the Tripartite Council on this issue and the Government took a final decision.

“In our country, the MMA is established only for unskilled work, there is no agreement on the minimum wage for skilled work,” noted E. Radišauskienė.

He assured that Lithuania’s position is still being formed, and it is not yet clear when the directive could be considered.

“Lithuania is not opposed to the need to increase the MMA, but in principle we do not agree with the imposition of certain directive requirements on wages as a member state,” says E. Radišauskienė.

A € 642 MMA is planned for next year, but the final decision will be made in December.

“The EU should not tell us much about how each country should live,” said Vidmantas Janulevičius, president of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists, emphasizing that the Scandinavian countries will also address their social problems separately.

“When I first heard about that initiative from the EC, I said very simply: today Britain is considering leaving the EU, but if such a directive is adopted, more countries will start to consider it.” Because this is a completely unmotivated interference in the laws of the country, “assured the president of the Lithuanian employers’ Confederation Danukas Arlauskas.

Support from unions

Inga Ruginienė, president of the Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation, stated that the unions have a different opinion.

“It simply came to our knowledge then. (…) Previously we have spoken categorically against the recommendations and we believe that this legislation should have the body of a directive. The position of the employers is incomprehensible, because the CE project presented is not so ambitious as the unions aspire. There is nothing terrible that should make the country’s system collapse, “says I. Ruginienė.

The representatives of the Solidaridad union support this initiative of the EC and support Europe

the position of the union central, the letter says, affirming that the directive is a positive step to enshrine the principles of a living wage and the promotion of collective bargaining. It ensures that the social partners must participate in the negotiations for the establishment of the MMA, and that the MMA cannot be reduced by any group of workers (eg young workers).

“We particularly support the EC initiative to promote collective bargaining. We agree that attention should be paid to those sectors and employers that refuse to negotiate with unions, but receive support from various EU funds, including the fund post-Covid-19 recovery, ”reads a letter signed by union president Kristina Krupavičienė.