Ahead of today’s launch of the second phase of the consultation on minimum wages by the European Commission, the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament reiterated their call for decent minimum wages for all, which would foremost benefit the COVID-19 essential and frontline workers.
Agnes Jongerius, S&D spokesperson on employment, said:
“Millions of workers across Europe are keeping our societies afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic, risking their health and life. Essential, but undervalued and underpaid, sums up the situation of many of these heroes working under precarious conditions. All the nurses caring for our sick, the farmworkers, lorry drivers and store clerks ensuring our food supply, child minders, refuse collectors, delivery staff and cleaners deserve our recognition in the form of decent minimum wages.
“The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted once again how much society depends on certain professions and sectors. During the past weeks, there has been no shortage of appreciative gestures and words of thanks. Now it is time to turn applause into decent wages. We welcome that the Commission is continuing its work on fair minimum wages and we expect an ambitious proposal. A European framework for minimum wages with the objective of living wages by either law or collective bargaining according to national practices is what the COVID-19 heroes deserve.”
