Salaries of low-paid EU workers devalued by 19%: Trade unions
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The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) reports a fall in the wages of Europe’s lowest-paid workers by up to 19% this year.
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Workers complete an electric car ID.3 body at the assembly line during a press tour at the plant of the German manufacturer Volkswagen AG (VW) in Zwickau, Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 25. 2020 (AP Photo/Jens Meyer, file)
Low-wage workers' salaries in Europe depreciated by 19% in 2022, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) reported on Monday.
"Europe’s lowest paid workers have seen the value of their wages fall by up to 19% this year," the ETUC said on Twitter.
Read: UK postal workers throw massive four-day strike amid inflation
ETUC also recalled that the average price of bread in Europe increased in August by 18% year-on-year, according to the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), while inflation was about 10.1% in the region. The prices of meat, vegetable cooking oils, and fats have also increased, as per Eurostat.
"Europe needs a pay rise - we want bread and roses too!" the ETUC said.
A couple of weeks ago, ETUC called for anti-crisis measures to protect incomes and jobs, as well as increases to minimum wages, and urged EU countries to support collective bargaining so other workers may obtain wage hikes. It also called on European nations to tax windfall profits made by energy companies.
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Energy bills are becoming more than a month’s salary
The disruptions in supply chains following Russia's operation in Ukraine and the subsequent comprehensive Western sanctions imposed on Russia caused a sharp increase in energy and food prices across the EU. Russia and Ukraine account for the production of almost a third of the world's wheat and barley and half of its sunflower oil. On July 22, Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey signed an UN-brokered agreement to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships carrying food and fertilizer exports from Black Sea ports.
