Estonian Trade Unions: minimum wage should be 320 euros

TALLINN - Estonian Trade Unions' Confederation (ETUC) announced that they would make employers a proposal to set Estonia's minimum wage next year at 320 euros a month or 1.90 euros an hour and conclude a collective labor agreement with the Estonian Employers' Confederation (EEC) for that, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports.

"The higher minimum level of wage increases domestic demand and supports Estonia's economic growth," ETUC's chairman Harri Taliga said in a letter to EEC head Tarmo Kriis.

Taliga said that the increase would not reduce Estonia's international competiveness since our productivity is relatively higher as compared to other EU states than the wage level. "Estonia's labor costs formed in 2010 just 7.34 euros an hour, which is considerably less than not just the indicators of Holland (31.67 euros), Ireland (28.69 euros) or UK (19.32 euros) but also as compared to Slovenia (14.24 euros), the Czech Republic (9.11 euros) or Slovakia (7.90 euros)," explained Taliga.

Taliga added that the increase of minimum wage would also reduce the amount of unreported wages that forms nearly 10 percent in Estonia.