ILO at European Employment Committee meeting with social partners on wage developments
The European Employment Committee (EMCO) organized on 1 February 2013 an extra-ordinary meeting with EU- and national social partners on wages developments. The EMCO chair invited the ILO to contribute to the discussion.
The ILO Deputy Director General for Policy, Ms. Sandra Polaski, made a presentation on the global role of wages in relation to productivity, employment and equity.
The ILO's presentation was followed by a presentation by the ECB on wage developments in a currency union. The ILO highlighted the findings of the ILO Global Wage Report 2012-2013 as well as new 2013 data (Global Employment Trends 2013) on labour incomes and employment. The strong wage increases in China have a beneficial effect on domestic demand and on wages elsewhere in Asia.
In a number of EU countries there is room to increase wages as a means to stimulate domestic demand and with spillover benefits to other EU countries. Social dialogue and collective bargaining are powerful instruments to reach balanced and consensual outcomes. There is also the increasing role of minimum wage policies as these positively influence wage distribution, reduce incidence of low-paid workers while having no market effect on employment.
