At the beginning of 2027, there should be another increase in the minimum wage — to 820 euros. But the unions demand to add another 15 euros to ensure it corresponds to the calculation formula. Annual increases in the minimum wage are inevitable, no matter how much employers resist. It is defined by the Cabinet's rules, which clearly state how to calculate it. It’s simple, even a fifth grader can handle it. The Ministry of Welfare should calculate what amount constitutes 46% of the average gross salary over the last 12 months. That should be the minimum wage across the country.
Imagine, even with such a simple task, the Ministry of Welfare could not cope, Grani.lv writes. Its calculations were recently announced by the Ministry of Finance in its report "On the revision of state budget revenue and tax policy for 2025-2027." It states that in 2027, the minimum wage will be raised to 820 euros. And then, already in 2028, it will increase to 860 euros.
But wait — recently it was triumphantly announced that in 2025, the average gross salary in Latvia reached 1815 euros. It is growing like yeast because there is a continuous increase in the salaries of government officials. Is 46% of this figure really 820?
Let’s perform this simple calculation ourselves. The percentage formula is one of the easiest in a fifth grader's textbook. You need to take the initial number (that is, 1815) and multiply it by the required percentage (that is, 46), and then divide by 100. What do we get? 834.90 euros.
Oh! That is certainly not 820 euros as calculated by the Ministry of Welfare and announced by the Ministry of Finance. Here, folks, there is a shortfall of almost 15 euros.
How can such a discrepancy be explained? Either the government does not know how to count. Or the government decided to grossly violate the rules it itself adopted in 2024.
In this regard, the Latvian Free Trade Union Confederation has spoken out and called on the Cabinet to comply with the law, raising the minimum wage to 835 euros to ensure it is indeed 46%. Because the minimum wage is already lagging behind the level of necessary living expenses. And now the government, with its clumsy tricks in calculations, has decided to deprive minimum wage recipients of 178.80 euros a year.
Employers, of course, are unhappy (when have they ever been happy?). They traditionally grumble that a sharp increase in the minimum wage could increase the burden on businesses, especially in the regions. How a worker is to survive on the current 780 euros minimum wage does not concern them.
Meanwhile, some politicians, ahead of the elections, hastened to make populist proposals. Thus, the Union of Greens and Farmers stated that the unions' proposal is not ambitious enough, given Latvia's lag behind neighboring countries. However, no specific figures were mentioned.
However, the "Progressives" boldly stated that the minimum wage should be 50% of the average gross salary. Under the current calculations, this would mean an increase to about 908 euros — more than 120 euros above the current level.
You are our golden ones, even a thousand euros! The people are all for it. But how foolish your statements look against the backdrop of the government currently trying to fit the understated 820 euros into the future budget. So, for the required 835 euros according to the Cabinet's rules, the unions will still have to fight hard…
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