Trade union pleased with EU deal on minimum wage; Pushes for €14 p/h

The European Parliament and European Council have reached an agreement on fair minimum wages. They set a standard to make sure minimum wages are not lagging behind, and the Member States must check and adjust the minimum wage every two years. Trade union FNV is pleased with the agreement. "The Cabinet must now raise the minimum wage to 14 euros in one step. And benefits must remain linked to that, " said Petra Bolster of the trade union.

The standard set in the agreement is that the minimum wage must be at least 50 percent of the average gross pay earned in a country and at least 60 percent of the median salary. "For the Netherlands, that means an increase to 14 euros," Bolster said.

According to the union, the current minimum of 10.48 euros per hour is too low to make a decent living. "Certainly, now that inflation is rising so enormously, groceries, gas, and petrol are becoming unaffordable. The gap that many workers have at the end of the month has only widened." Around 300,000 workers in the Netherlands can't get by on their salary, the union said.

PvdA Member of European Parliament Agnes Jongerius also called the agreement "a clear signal that we should increase to 14 euros in the Netherlands."