NORDISKA UNIONEN, a Nordic confederation of trade unions in the grocery sector, has voiced its reservations about the idea of adopting a minimum wage across the European Union.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president-designate of the European Commission, revealed during her leadership campaign that she will propose that a statutory minimum wage be introduced for employees across the 28-country bloc.
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Nordiska Unionen on Saturday urged Nordic members of the commission to block the proposal, arguing that the statutory scheme would pose a threat to the so-called Nordic model – that is, the practice of agreeing on terms and conditions of employment primarily through collective bargaining negotiations between labour market organisations.
“The model’s results are evident in a high employment rate, equality and relatively high level of well-being,” its press release reads.
Doing away with the model, however, is not the objective of the European Commission. Von der Leyen in July reiterated that she will propose that a minimum wage be introduced, but estimated that determining wages should ideally remain the responsibility of employee and employer organisations because they can “tailor the minimum wage” to the needs of each sector and region.
The minimum wage scheme, she envisioned, would serve as a framework that supplements local, union-specific agreements.
Nordiska Unionen consists of 12 trade unions and over 130,000 members from across the Nordics, including the Finnish Food Workers’ Union and Trade Union Pro.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: Uusi Suomi
