No. 8

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Today’s Murky Wage Policy

18 December 2003

Studies

RiTo No. 8, 2003

  • Toivo Roosimaa

    President, Estonian Employees' Unions' Confederation (TALO), Tallinn Technical University, faculty member

TALO’s collective bargaining agreements with the government worked well until 1999; wage policy planning then started to deteriorate. Subsequent negotiations between TALO and the government became unspecific and the plain and accepted minimum salary scale that had evolved up to that point was effectively demolished.

Currently people lack a sense of security: how high is the minimum salary for a given position? This negative approach to the issue has had its consequences: salaries in education, culture and science are far below levels for other fields. This forces people to give up their careers in education and the arts, and look for better-paying jobs in other fields or even leave the country altogether. Due to the lack of a justified wage and social policy, we are basically aiding the economies of other countries with our already tight resources, training highly educated people for their markets.

Full article in Estonian

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