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According to her, the EC proposal could be indicative and non-binding.
“Our position is that wage setting in member states should not be enshrined in a directive, but rather in a recommendation. The directive potentially violates the competence of member states to regulate wages at the national level,” said the deputy minister. at the Tripartite Council meeting on Tuesday.
According to the EC proposal, the MMA should not be less than 60%. the country’s median wage or 50 percent. the national average wage.
“Lithuania is not opposed to the need to increase the minimum wage, but we do not agree in principle that we, as a member state, should be subject to certain requirements of the directive regarding wages,” he said.
Business representatives say they support the ministry’s position, while union representatives believe the directive should be enacted.
Vidmantas Janulevičius, president of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists, said the European Union should not specify how each country should regulate MMA. According to him, the enactment of the directive would harm the competitiveness of the country, since the minimum wage in the country would increase faster than possibilities allow.
“Now it is dictated that those countries with a slight wage gap must catch up with the large EU members as soon as possible, and today the measure could help people earn more, spend more, but it would affect competitiveness too soon, because we have to go up gradually and everyone has to do it. ” their chances, ”V. Janulevičius said at the council meeting.
At the time, the unions emphasized that the directive was a positive step toward enshrining the principles of decent wages and promoting collective bargaining.
“The directive should apply to us, because we are far behind other EU countries, especially in terms of collective bargaining and wages, and I think we should push ourselves a bit. Nobody says that a specific average wage or minimum wage should be set according to the EU, it would be based on the economic capabilities of the country ”, said Rimtautas Ramanauskas, Vice President of Solidarity, at the meeting.
Arnoldas Pranckevičius, Head of the EC Representation in Lithuania, has told the SNB that the parties would not be obliged to set a specific minimum wage, but the aim is to use common criteria when setting it.
According to the EC proposal, when developing common criteria and standards, each country should calculate the level of the minimum wage taking into account both the purchasing power and the average wage and their growth trends.
The EC also proposes that Member States report annually to the EC on the participation of the social partners in collective bargaining on the minimum wage.
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