Employers, unions agree on €95-per-month minimum wage hike
Representatives of trade unions in Estonia and those of employers have struck a bargain on next year's minimum wage, which will rise by €95 per month to €820 per month gross, the largest annual rise in recent years.
Estonian Trade Union Confederation (EAKL) chair Jaan-Hendrik Toomel said he was satisfied with the agreement.
"The result born at the negotiation table – €820 gross minimum wage per month – will help to ease the fall in the purchasing power of the minimum wage resulting from inflation, and will improve the economic situation for many families," said Toomel.
The agreement was reached between the EAKL and the Employers' Confederation (Tööandjate Keskliit) in the negotiations, held at the EAKL headquarters.
The national minimum wage will as a result rise by 13 percent and will reach 42 percent of the Bank of Estonia's projected average salary for 2024.
Employers' Confederation chief Arto Aas said that Tuesday's agreement takes into account both the goodwill agreement on the minimum wage signed in the spring, and the actual situation and prospects facing business.
Aas noted that employers are now more uncertain about the future than they had been in spring after six quarters in a row in which the Estonian economy has contracted and foreign demand has continued to be weak.
The longer-term aim for both parties is to reach, by or in 2027, a minimum wage of half the national average.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Mirjam Mäekivi
