A meeting was held in connection with need to establish a decent minimum wage standard, organized by the Georgian Trade Unions Organization.
The meeting was attended by representatives of trade unions, invited experts of International Labour Organization (ILO), representatives of the Ministry of Health and the employers’ association.
The Invited foreign experts spoke about the international practice and approach and a need of decent minimum wage standard in Country. Irakli Petriashvili, President of the Georgian Trade Unions Confederation, emphasized the role of the state in the process of solving the issue, because it is important for state that the country have a decent minimum standard wage.
We remind you that in Georgia, the minimum wage is defined by the old legislation and is 20 GEL. Georgian Trade Unions Confederation have been calling for new, employee-centered, decent minimum wage standard for years.
It should be noted that the current standard in European countries is considered to be 60% of the average salary, however, in Georgia, representatives of the business sector have been refusing to introduce the new standard for years and express the opinion that the innovation will have a significant negative impact on them. Taking into account the existing issue, the Georgian Trade Union Confederation once again calculated the standard to be set according to the average salary calculated by Geostat (National Statistics Office of Georgia), which as of today, according to 40% of the salary, amounts to 636 GEL
Georgian Trade Unions Confederation once again call on the state and business to allow employed people to work in decent conditions. In the near future, Georgian Trade Unions Confederation will once again submit the bill to the legislature and demand that appropriate steps be taken immediately.