Viktor Pinsky: “Trade Unions of the CIS Countries Propose Setting a Higher Minimum Wage Standard”
The minimum wage in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States should reach a level that ensures a fulfilling life for citizens, said Viktor Pinsky, deputy of the State Duma of Russia, Secretary General of the General Confederation of Trade Unions. According to the deputy, the minimum wage should be brought to the level of the minimum consumer budget.
“In almost all CIS countries, the minimum wage has increased tenfold over the past twenty years and reached the minimum subsistence level, for example, in Uzbekistan this figure has increased 195 times. Today, the unions of the Commonwealth have a new goal – to make sure that wages take into account real prices and living expenses in each specific country. Therefore, the trade unions are launching a new campaign, the purpose of which is to achieve an increase in the minimum wage to the level of the minimum consumer budget,” Viktor Pinsky said at a meeting of the GCTU Executive Committee, which took place in Moscow on December 8.
The CIS trade unions propose to recalculate the consumer budget so that it takes into account the real living costs in each country: high-quality food, an up-to-date range of essential goods and services. The size of the consumer budget should grow along with the prices of the goods and services included in it.
At the meeting of the GCTU Council, trade union leaders from 7 CIS countries – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan discussed the results of the campaign “Minimum Wage – to the Minimum Subsistence Level”, the goals of the campaign “Minimum Wage – to the Minimum Consumer Budget Level” and other relevant socio-economic topics.
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