15 Amendments of Vilija BLINKEVIČIŪTĖ related to 2020/0310(COD)
Amendment 38 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) The European Social Charter establishes that all workers have the right to just conditions of work. It recognises the right of all workers to a fair remuneration sufficient for a decent standard of living for themselves and their families, contributing to reduce the existing pay gap between men and women. Article 4 of the Charter recognises the role of freely concluded collective agreements as well as of statutory minimum wage setting mechanisms, to ensure the effective exercise of this right.
Amendment 116 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) The European Social Charter establishes that all workers have the right to decent work and just conditions of work. It recognises the right of all workers to a fair and adequate remuneration sufficient for a decent standard of living for themselves and their families. Article 4 of the Charter recognises the role of freely concluded collective agreements as well as of statutory minimum wage setting mechanisms, to ensure the effective exercise of this right.
Amendment 137 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) Better working and living conditions, including through adequate and fair minimum wages, benefit both workers and businesses in the Union and are a prerequisite for achieving inclusive and sustainable growth. Addressing large differences in the coverage and adequacy of minimum wage protection contributes to improving the fairness of the EU labour market and promote economic, social progress and upward convergence. Competition in the Single Market should be based on high social standards, innovation and productivity improvements ensuring a level playing field.
Amendment 146 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) When set at adequate and fair levels, minimum wages protect the income of disadvantaged workers, help ensure a decent living, and limit the fall in income during bad times, as recognised in Convention 131 of the International Labour Organisation on the establishment of a system of minimum wage fixing. Minimum wages contribute to sustaining domestic demand, strengthen incentives to work, reduce wage inequalities and in- work poverty of workers and their children.
Amendment 146 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 31 a (new)
Recital 31 a (new)
(31 a) The process towards convergence on adequate and fairer minimum wages should go hand-in-hand with the Commission's legislative proposal for wage transparency measures. The Pay Transparency Directive is an important step needed for closing the gender pay gap.
Amendment 150 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 7 a (new)
Recital 7 a (new)
(7a) In-work poverty in the European Union has increased by more than 12% over the past decade and more working people are experiencing poverty than during the previous economic and financial crisis.
Amendment 155 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) Women, young and low-skilled workers and persons with disabilities have a higher probability of being minimum wage or low wage earners than other groupare very often minimum wage or low wage earners, and they often work part-time or are employed under short-term employment contracts. During economic downturns, such as the Covid-19 crisis, the role of minimum wages in protecting low- wage workers becomes increasingparticularly important and is essential to support a sustainable and inclusive economic and social recovery. Addressing minimum wage contributes to gender equality, closing the gender pay and pension gap as well as elevating women and their children out of poverty.
Amendment 167 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) The Covid-19 pandemic is having a significant impact on the services sector and small firms, which both have a high share of minimum wage earners, and the majority of employees in the services sector are women. In addition, minimum wages are also important in view of the structural trends that are reshaping labour markets and which are increasingly characterised by high shares of non- standard and precarious work. These trends have led to an increased job polarisation resulting in an increasing share of low-paid and low- skilled occupations in most Member States, as well as to higher wage inequality in some of them.
Amendment 192 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 2
Article 4 – paragraph 2
2. Member States where collective bargaining coverage is less than 70% of the workers defined within the meaning of Article 2 shall in addition provide for a framework of enabling conditions for collective bargaining, either by law after consultation of the social partners or by agreement with them, and shall establish an national action plan to promote collective bargaining. These national action plans should upward wage convergence and establish most appropriate measures and mechanisms for wage setting and increasing coverage at national level, also in order to close the gender pay gap and to reduce inequalities and discrimination. The action plan shall be made public and shall be notified to the European Commission.
Amendment 204 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) While strong collective bargaining at sector or cross-industry level contributes to ensuring adequate and fair minimum wage protection, traditional collective bargaining structures have been eroding during the last decades, in part due to structural shifts in the economy towards less unionised sectors and to the decline in trade union membership related to the increase of atypical and new forms of work.
Amendment 219 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 5
Article 5 – paragraph 5
5. Member States shall establish consultative bodies to advise the competent authorities on issues related to statutory minimum wages. These constitutive bodies shall: - Aim at gender parity in their composition - Apply a gender perspective in all their analysis - Provide gender-sensitive evaluation on a regular basis
Amendment 223 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 5 a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 5 a (new)
Amendment 237 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the social partners are involved in a timely and effective manner in statutory minimum wage setting and updating, including through participation in consultative bodies referred to in Article 5(5) guaranteeing anti- discrimination and gender equality trainings for social partners and state authorities and notably as concerns:
Amendment 259 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) Well-functioning collective bargaining on wage setting is an important means to ensure that workers are protected by adequate and fair minimum wages. In the Member States with statutory minimum wages, collective bargaining supports general wage developments and therefore contributes to improving the adequacy and fairness of minimum wages. In the Member States where minimum wage protection is provided exclusively by collective bargaining, their level as well as the share of protected workers are directly determined by the functioning of the collective bargaining system and collective bargaining coverage. Strong and well- functioning collective bargaining together with a high coverage of sectorial or cross- industry collective agreements strengthen the adequacy and the coverage of minimum wages.
Amendment 306 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) Minimum wages are considered adequate if they are fair in relation to the wage distribution in the country and if they provide a decent standard of living for workers and their families. The adequacy of statutory minimum wages is determined in view of the national socio- economic conditions, including employment growth, competitiveness as well as regional and sectoral developments. Their adequacy should be assessed at least in relation to their purchasing power, to the productivity developments and to their relation to the gross wage levels, distribution and growth. The use of indicators commonly used at international level, such as 60% of the gross median wage and 50% of the gross average wage, can help guide the assessment of minimum wage adequacy in relation to the gross level of wages.