Podgorica, (MINA-BUSINESS) – The trade union representatives believe that the minimum wages should account for 50 percent of the average salary in Montenegro.
This initiative will be discussed Thursday by the Social Council, which is in charge of proposing the minimum wage level to the Government.
Secretary-General of the Confederation of Trade Unions (SSCG) Dusko Zarubica has said that all social partners agreed that it is necessary to increase the minimum wage.
Talking about the announcement by Prime Minister Dusko Markovic that there will be no increase in minimum wage, he said at a conference organized in cooperation with the Union of Free Trade Unions (USSCG) that this should be left for the Social Council to decide.
“We would like to believe in social dialogue and to improve it,” Zarubica said, adding that the minimum wage increase would be the best solution for all social partners involved.
The USSCG Secretary-General Srdja Kekovic said that the minimum wages of €193 were paid to 9,800 working people in Montenegro, adding that they are at the lowest level in the region.
“The minimum consumer basket amounts to €639, excluding rent. An average of 1.3 family members work per household, which means that not even three minimum wages are sufficient to cover the costs of the consumer basket,” said Kekovic, adding that this €60 increase was a minimum, given the prices of goods and services in the country.
Longer version of article is available on a link MINA ENGLISH SERVIS
