Ansip lashes out at controversial employers' manifesto

Sep 07, 2010
TBT Staff

The prime minister criticised the set of recommendations offered by employers.

TALLINN -- Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip has attacked a recently publicized set of recommendations from the Employers' Confederation, sayign the controversial document is "tearing up society".

"It is tearing up the society. I believe that the authors of the manifesto do not represent the thoughts of the majority of Estonian businessmen," Ansip was quoted as saying by Aripaev.

The Employers' Confederation released a manifesto one week ago with a number of proposals and recommendations that it claims are aimed at giving a boost to the economy.

The proposals included raising the pension age to 67, limiting the ability of employees to strike, shifting the tax burden from employers to employees, make employees pay medical insurance, and lower corporate taxes.

"Average public sector wages remain higher than those of the private sector also today," Confederation chairman Tarmo Kriis was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

The document hed received harsh criticism from other politicians and trade unions shortly after it was released. Critics said the proposals were self-interested and that society at large would not benefit from the changes.

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