Brussels, 23/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - European trade unionists and European Central Bank (ECB) president, Jean-Claude Trichet, clashed in Seville on Tuesday on the issue of wage increases in Europe, which had been called for loud and long on the eve of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) Congress by its secretary general, John Monks (see EUROPE 9429).
Defending the ECB strategy, Mr Trichet warned against wage demands that could lead to inflation. Thus, he once again set his face against wage rises which could compromise price stability and have a negative impact on employment by increasing labour costs for companies. “Price stability is a necessary condition for attaining sustainable growth … and sustainable employment creation,” he said in his speech to those taking part in the debate on wage policies in the European monetary union. “Price stability is important, but it should not come at the expense of the workers, who must also benefit from increased productivity,” responded Wanja Lundby Wedin, leader of the Swedish LO union and newly-elected ETUC president (see related article), in no uncertain terms. The leader of the German IG-Metall union, Jürgen Peters, said that “low wages do not create jobs”. Guglielmo Epifani, secretary general of the Italian CGIL union, warned that “lack of trust in Europe and the ECB could lead to very serious problems” and he attacked “this culture of lowering wages”.
On the idea of a European minimum wage, Mr Trichet said he thought there “should be sufficiently wide differences between countries” to reflect the economic differences within Europe. “A minimum salary would be a good thing if conditions were right, but I do not think that that is the case for the moment,” John Monks told AFP, noting that “wages in Germany were five times those in Poland!” The idea of a European rule which could force every member state to set a minimum wage equivalent, for example, to 60% of the average national wage, does not win the support of all European trade unionists. Unions in countries, like Sweden, where the social partners - and not the state - set the minimum wage through negotiation want nothing to do with it. In other countries, the minimum wage is set sector by sector, or sometimes there just is none at all. Because of this lack of agreement among unions, ETUC has decided to call only for wage increases and to leave the requirement for a European minimum wage to one side. (gb)