Press Release IG Metall Welcomes EU Minimum Wage Directive, but Calls for Greater Protection for Unions in Europe

Frankfurt – IG Metall welcomes the new EU-wide Minimum Wage Directive, which the European Parliament adopted today, as an important step toward greater social justice across Europe. Wolfgang Lemb, Executive Board Member of IG Metall, commented: “The minimum wage directive is a victory for the unions and an important starting point for solidarity and for combating social undercutting in the European single market. Strengthening decent working and living conditions for workers across Europe is more important than ever in light of the many crises we face.”

A particularly positive aspect of the directive is its approach to not only strengthen access to statutory minimum wages but also to improve the conditions for free and fair collective bargaining across the EU. This is reflected in particular in the action plan to promote collective bargaining as well as in the guidelines on public procurement. Now, the German legislature is called upon to consistently implement the directive over the next two years and to demonstrate how collective bargaining coverage can be strengthened here as well, in close coordination with the unions.

“But it’s also clear,” Lemb continued, “that good wages and a fair share of corporate profits won’t come from Brussels, Strasbourg, or the 27 capitals—not even with the adopted directive. Local unions must continue to fight for fair wage policies on their own. The rights to collective bargaining and minimum wages are only as strong as the unions that exercise those rights.”

And this is increasingly lacking in the EU. Contact restrictions during the pandemic and the many economic downturns have in many cases weakened Europe’s unions and their membership base. Furthermore, particularly in Eastern Europe, the suppression of unions and their rights is the order of the day.

Therefore, according to Lemb, while the directive represents a first step, it must not be the end of the matter: “The EU must do more to protect the collective rights of unions. In the past, EU case law has repeatedly given economic freedoms priority over the collective rights of unions. Conversely, we need a rule that gives absolute priority to the right of unions to engage in industrial action and to negotiate fair collective bargaining agreements!”