Collective voice in fixing minimum wages: social partners’ participation from the ILO and EU perspectives

Abstract

This paper examines the involvement of social partners in the mechanisms of fixing minimum wages in the light of the pertinent ILO Convention No. 131 and the proposal for a Directive on adequate minimum wages in the European Union. The author draws attention to the differences between the said Convention and the draft Directive with regard to the types of wage-fixing mechanisms as well as the form, scope and significance of involvement of social partners and other entities in their operation. The paper further analyses the influence of ILO Convention No. 131 on the draft EU directive and the significance of the latter for the dissemination of standards applicable to minimum wage fixing mechanisms in the EU Member States. These issues are examined against the backdrop of their growing importance—as observed in recent years— in the international legal and EU discourse concerned with adequate working conditions to ensure more sustainable and inclusive social-economic development.