Brussels, 2008
Why a campaign?
Wages and purchasing power are one of the main concerns of European citizens. At present, wages and salaries in Europe are on a downward spiral. The share of wages in gross domestic product (GDP) is falling steadily while company profits continue to increase. The immediate results are a drop in purchasing power together with growing inequalities.
The ETUC Seville Congress agreed to launch a campaign calling for pay rises, and making clear demands on European decision-makers. The European trade union movement strongly urges the European Central Bank to end its repeated calls for wage moderation. It calls on governments and employers to stop thinking of wage moderation as the only adjustment variable.
What are the European trade unions’ demands?
The main demands of this campaign are:
• a rise in real salaries to boost purchasing power;
• decent minimum wages to combat poverty;
• genuine equal pay between men and women;
• stronger collective bargaining, including at European level;
• fair wages for workers in the public sector;
• calls for wage moderation by the ECB must be addressed to senior managers;
• limits on top incomes.
Euro-demonstration
On 7 February 2008, the ETUC Steering Committee agreed to organise a Euro-demonstration to demand higher wages in Ljubljana in Slovenia on 5 April.