GL-PvdA proposes €16 p.h. minimum wage in healthcare on Labour Day
The lowest-paid healthcare employees must earn at least 16 euros per hour, GroenLinks-PvdA proposed on May 1, Labour Day. According to the left-wing combination, around 60,000 people currently work in healthcare for less than 16 euros per hour and that is not enough for the essential work they do in hospitals, nursing homes, and people’s homes, NOS reports.
“During the coronavirus crisis, they kept our country afloat, and they still do that every day,” GroenLinks-PvdA leader Frans Timmermans said. Now, due to the recent high inflation, they struggle to make ends meet or have no money left over to spend on themselves. “It can’t continue like this.”
Better payment will also make working in healthcare more attractive, Timmermans believes. The sector is facing massive staff shortages and is desperately trying to recruit more personnel.
The current minimum hourly wage is 13.27 euros. Increasing that to 16 euros in the healthcare sector will cost approximately 525 million euros per year. To pay for this, the party wants to increase the maximum premium that all employers in the Netherlands pay for employees’ health insurance, so employers will pay higher premiums for employees with a high salary.
GroenLinks-PvdA will try to get majority support for their proposal when parliament discusses the Spring Memorandum, one of the annual updates to the national budget. That debate is scheduled for early June.
Labor Day, May 1, is an international holiday born from the struggle for an eight-hour working day in the 19th century. Unlike many other countries, May 1 is not a public holiday in the Netherlands, and people still have to go to work and school. GroenLinks-PvdA traditionally celebrates the day.
