Unions seek to push Estonia’s minimum wage above 1,000 euros

Estonia’s trade unions want the minimum wage to rise above 1,000 euros a month next year, as negotiations with employers begin, ERR reported on Monday. Employers said the proposed increase was too steep but did not make a counteroffer at the first meeting.

The minimum wage is 946 euros a month this year, equal to 43 percent of the average wage. The Estonian Trade Union Confederation is proposing that it reach 47.5 percent of the average wage next year, a rise of more than 4 percent.

Union confederation chair Kaia Vask said the proposal follows a good-faith agreement signed in 2023. Under that agreement, the minimum wage is to reach 50 percent of the average wage in the future.

Employers will present their proposal in a later round of talks. Hando Sutter, chief executive of the Estonian Employers’ Confederation, said the increase must be affordable for businesses, particularly those outside Tallinn and Tartu, warning that jobs could otherwise be lost.

Vask said the minimum wage should rise so that people can cover their living costs as prices increase. Sutter said economic uncertainty, energy prices and rising input costs should also be taken into account.

About 20,000 people in Estonia earn the minimum wage. It also affects the minimum rate of parental benefit, unemployment insurance benefits, subsistence benefits and, in some places, kindergarten fees.