A study by the Confederation of European Unions found that high electricity and gas bills have become too expensive for low-paid Europeans, costing them more than a month’s salary.
The study found that the average annual electricity bill now exceeds the monthly salary of low-wage workers in most EU member states, with energy prices likely to rise in the coming months unless governments take action. The cost of living crisis begins.
Energy costs rose 38 percent in July compared to the same month last year. This means that an Estonian minimum wage worker must work an additional 26 days to pay their annual electricity bill, or a total of 54 days.
“When your bill is over a month’s salary, you won’t find a way to save the money that matters,” ETU Deputy Secretary General Esther Lynch said in a statement. “These prices are simply out of reach for millions of people right now.” .”
The Confederation of European Unions has called on European leaders to set a ceiling on consumer electricity bills and ease payments to low-wage workers who cannot pay them, calling for other crisis-fighting measures to protect incomes and jobs, in addition to raising the minimum wage.
Unions have called on European countries to support collective bargaining so that other workers can get pay increases and tax windfall profits made by energy companies.
Source: AFP