They call on European governments, who will meet at the end of the week in Prague to discuss energy issues, to “put an end to unsustainable price increases”.
Rising electricity and gas prices are making the energy bills of millions of Europeansunpayable“Warned the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) on Tuesday in a press release.
“Some 9.5 million working people were already struggling to pay their energy billsbefore inflation soared to a record high of 9.1% over one year in August in the euro zone, says the ETUC, which is based on a study by the European Trade Union Institute. From July 2021 to July 2022, the cost of gas and electricity increased by 38% across Europe “and it keeps on climbing“. Consequently, in sixteen Member States of the European Union (EU) including France, “workers paid minimum wage must set aside the equivalent of a month’s salary or more to continue to provide light and heat at home“, deplore the unions. In 2021, this was only the case in eight of the twenty-seven EU Member States.
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In 2022, an Estonian worker must work twenty-six days longer than in 2021 to pay his annual energy bill, and a Dutch worker twenty additional days. In Slovakia, Greece, the Czech Republic and Italy, “the average annual energy bill now represents more than a month’s salary for an active person paid at the average wageof his country, details the ETUC. “When your annual bill costs more than a month’s salary, there are no tricks to saving money. These prices are simply unaffordable today for millions of people.“, alarmed ETUC Deputy General Secretary Esther Lynch, quoted in the press release.
six points
The trade unions therefore call on the European governments, which will meet at the end of the week in Prague to discuss energy issues, to “put an end to unsustainable price increases“.
In a six-point plan for policy makers on the continent, they call for higher wages and in particular minimum wages. The ETUC also calls for capping energy bills and taxingwindfall profits» energy companies. Paris and Berlin have pushed in recent days for a simple “contribution», non-fiscal, of these companies. “Politicians must seize this crisis before it costs lives this winter“, insists Esther Lynch.