The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) launches today a European campaign on wages demanding more purchasing power and more equality. The key event of this campaign will be the Euro-demonstration due to be held 5th April in Ljubljana (Slovenia).

Real salaries in Europe are on a downward spiral. The share of wages as a proportion of national income (Gross Domestic Product – GDP), continues to fall. By contrast, companies’ profits have been rising. Wealth exists, but it is more and more unequally shared.

The European Trade Union Confederation says “stop” to the repeated calls for wage moderation aimed at ordinary workers alone but not at board rooms, and “stop” to governments and employers who too freely resort to lower wages as the only means of adjustment.

Consequently, the ETUC is launching a Europe-wide campaign for fairer wages including minimum wages, and organising a Euro-demonstration on 5 April 2008 in Ljubljana to demand higher pay. This is the message the European trade union movement will be sending to European finance ministers meeting in Slovenia on the same day.