Is it possible to have a dignified life through work? If a country is considered developed, the answer is clear: it should be possible and urgent. This is reflected in Article 4 of the European Social Charter, which recognises the right of workers to receive sufficient remuneration to provide an adequate standard of living for workers and their families. According to the definition proposed by the Social Rights Committee of the Council of Europe, the wage is at least 60% of the average net wage. In the case of the peninsular Basque Country, this amount has been set at approximately EUR 1,200.

In the four territories of Hegoalde, the minimum wage has been reduced to EUR 950, far from the European Social Charter. In order not to raise that minimum wage, employers point out that we must stick to the “productivity of work” and that we must do through the agreement, as Confesbask’s leader Zubiaurre said at the end of December. The position of the employers is special, because there are things for which an agreement is necessary, when the definition of the agreement is its approval. Other employers point out that with increases in the minimum wage they will not be able to maintain many jobs. Mr Entrepreneur, if to increase profits you have to pay miserable wages, the business may not be profitable. Not in economic or social terms. We must not forget that many workers do not reach the minimum wage either, because, by obligation, they work shorter working hours, working 15, 20, 25 hours a week. It should be noted that the majority are women. In addition, it should be noted that productivity paid work is an instrument to increase exploitation and make wages even more precarious.

At the same time, the pandemic has made it clear what the essential jobs and jobs are: cleaning, sanitation, precarious services, care… Without care, it is not possible for our economy to function. If these works are not carried out, the activity of any company will end; but either they are not paid (care), or they are among those with a lower salary (cleaners, telephone operators, store staff, etc. ). Using the logic that has become apparent in the pandemic, how much should the high fees charge? What about those who work in these essential jobs?

With a job, it cannot be accepted that it should not come out of poverty. Labour reforms have greatly increased the number of poor workers: precarious jobs, with the risk of firing at a very low price at any time and often on a non-full-time basis. With two salaries of this kind, we may arrive at the end of the month, after paying a rent that is increasing. It has been recognised that we cannot work and be condemned to poverty.

But there are many entrepreneurs who are very happy with this, because the work that the five people were doing before now is done by two, charging the same salary as before. The fear of unemployment has spread to all places, as after the provisional employment regulation dossiers, collective redundancies will often occur, as dismissal is cheap. That is why the resistance of employers is so great when it comes to increasing the minimum wage.

We cannot condemn misery to a person who works. Unfortunately, the main model of enterprise and our model of society does. There's no one safe: if you're a worker, you're more and more likely to be a future poor worker. That is why the need for minimum decent wages. It is the minimum element for a dignified life.