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The Estonian Trade Union Confederation, EAKL, intends to make the next proposal for raising the national minimum wage this summer, EAKL's recently elected chairman Peep Peterson said on Thursday.
Estonia's EAKL union body to make minimum wage hike proposal in summer
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Estonian trade unions will definitely continue to conclude agreements on the minimum wage, Peterson said according to remarks released by EAKL.
"Although minimum wage doesn't concern most employees, there are many employees for whom it is extremely important to cope," Peterson said. "I dream of a situation where a person working full-time doesn't have to apply for allowances to sustain a family. As long as that hasn't been achieved, we will continue on the old course."
Peterson said that if in Germany, Sweden and Finland there were comprehensive pay agreements in all walks of life, in Estonia they existed only in two sectors of the economy. "We are persuading employers on a daily basis that the Swedish model is better, but unfortunately they are failing to notice all parts of that system, which is the actual cause behind the economic success there."
Peterson said the timeline for starting talks on the minimum wage should be brought forward. "The government and the private sector have been left little time lately to adjust their budgets. Therefore we would like to start with negotiations already in summer this time," the leader of the main Estonian trade union body said.
Finance Minister Jurgen Ligi and the chairman of the supervisory board of the Confederation of Employers, Enn Veskimagi, have recently expressed the opinion that the mandatory minimum wage could be abolished in Estonia.
There is no statutory minimum wage in Germany and Sweden. The German parliament's upper house voted last week to introduce a mandatory national minimum wage, which the government has refused to do.
Last year approximately 15, 000 people were paid the minimum wage in Estonia. Under an agreement signed between employers and EAKL on Dec. 21, 2012 the minimum gross wage was raised from 290 euros to 320 euros a month from Jan. 1.