Brussels, 16/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - Examining on Monday 12 November 2007 the issue of wage formation in the eurozone, Eurogroup's finance ministers against noted a tendency for the share of wages in eurozone GDP to fall (see EUROPE 9542). EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, speaking at a press conference after the meeting, said the relative fall was mainly due to structural factors like changes in the nature of production in the eurozone, but the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) sees wage moderation as the root cause of this trend.
In a press release published on 13 November 2007, the ETUC criticises the attitude of European politicians: 'it is not consistent for European policy actors to regret on the one hand the falling share of wages while on the other hand calling for wage moderation to continue.' 'To stop the trend of a falling share of wages, completive wage dumping policies need to be ended and collective bargaining strategies and collective bargaining coverage need to be strengthened. For the ETUC, profit sharing is additional to and not a substitute for robust collective bargaining.'
The ETUC adds: 'It is even disingenuous to present 'profit sharing' as a solution while at the same time insisting on wage moderation. The risk of such a strategy is that the real wage of the average worker will continue to stagnate whereas 'strong insiders' (Chief Executive Officers, managers and supervisors) will strongly improve their income position.' ETUC Confederal Secretary Walter Cerfeda commented: 'Europe has to get rid of the 'idee fixe' that wage moderation automatically results in new jobs. For an integrated economy such as the euro area, systemic wage moderation only results in undermining overall domestic demand on the European internal market.' (A.B.)