On Tuesday, the OGBL chair André Roeltgen said that the country is doing well and that over the next 12 months, the government must do more in social policies after the painful adjustments resulting from the recession.

One of the priorities is the creation of a legal adjustment mechanism for family subsidies and their periodical adjustment to the median income, as “the agreement with the government of 28 November 2014” states. If this did not happen, he would consider the government had broken its word.

The OGBL also asked for better health provisions and supports the extension to 10 days of parental leave, as employment minister Nicolas Schmit proposed.

Salaries

Roeltgen demanded again to raise the minimum wage by 10%, and for an adjustment of salaries in line with productivity. Over the years 2014-2016, productivity rose by 5.5%, but salaries only by 3.5%; he said that this gap must be closed.

Data protection at work

The trade union is opposed to the current draft law on data protection, which foresees that employers can take surveillance measures at the work place without the agreement of the committee on data protection.

Furthermore, there should be more tax relief for employees, such as no taxes for minimum wage earners, and tax brackets should be adjusted in line with inflation.