ČMKOS calls for an extraordinary increase in the minimum wage
The current geopolitical tensions cause risk and uncertainty with regard to growth and inflation prospects. The upward trend in inflation attracted the attention of the trade unions and the main Czech trade union confederation ČMKOS mobilized in a timely manner, demanding an increase in the minimum wage for employees: an increase from CZK 2,000 to CZK 18,200 was proposed in response to the 12.7% year-on-year increase in consumer prices in March. However, according to the Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Síkela, a gradual increase in the minimum wage, as demanded by the trade unions, would be a significant burden on business and trade. In fact, a possible increase in the minimum wage could lead the country to stagflation, an expression used for describing a period of the economic cycle in which stagnation, i.e. a phase of high unemployment and economic recession, and inflation, i.e. a decrease in purchasing power, are simultaneously combined.
Prime Minister Fiala reiterated that “this is not something we can afford with the budget as it is and with the debts, we inherited from the previous government. Nor would it be responsible”. In his opinion, the government should, rather, guarantee a status where inflation cannot increase; in this sense, an automatic increase in the minimum wage would follow. In addition, Minister Síkela reiterates his understanding of the trade unions’ request but underlines the government’s modus operandi with ad hoc idealized measures and interventions that look at the relative and not the absolute condition of the population. In particular, in order to fight inflation, the measures discussed consist of an allowance for children under 18 years of age and the introduction of a special energy tariff for families living in a not very advantageous social condition.
Source:http://www.camic.cz; http://www.ceskenoviny.cz
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