The conclusion of the “Union des syndicats OGBL-LCGB” is clear: it must be possible to live decently on the social minimum wage!
However, all available data show that this is not possible in Luxembourg!
A European directive sets reference thresholds for an adequate SSM, which must amount to either 50% of the average wage or 60% of the median wage.
Several official publications clearly demonstrate that the Luxembourg SSM meets neither of these two criteria.
According to the “Union des syndicats OGBL-LCGB”, a structural increase of 12% would be necessary to ensure an adequate SSM.
However, for two years, the Government has done everything in its power to avoid having to negotiate such a structural increase of.
The view of the Government and employers: everything is fine for minimum wage earners; an increase is not necessary!
On 24 March 2026, the Government announced that it has no political will to increase the SSM beyond existing legal adjustments.
According to the Government, SSM earners should be satisfied with the biannual adjustment and indexation. On the same day, employers, for their part, called for the abolition of the aforementioned adjustment.
For the “Union des syndicats OGBL-LCGB”, this is an affront to some 70.000 employees who receive the SSM and a major attack on the minimum wage itself. Calling into question the minimum wage adjustment mechanism also endangers the wages of tens of thousands of workers who are close to the SSM or who have a collective agreement that is linked to the SSM.
The “Union des syndicats OGBL-LCGB” will not stand for this and will fight this anti-social policy by all means!
The attack on the index is already being prepared! On 24 March 2026, the Minister of Labour also recalled that the coalition agreement provides for a national tripartite meeting if two index tranches are triggered within one year.
Given the surge in oil prices, employers are already openly calling for the convening of such a national tripartite meeting dedicated exclusively to the index, with the stated aim of manipulating the wage and pension indexation mechanism.
Luxembourg’s wage model is based on three pillars: automatic wage indexation, the social minimum wage and collective bargaining. Having attacked the collective bargaining system for two years, employers and the government are now targeting indexation and the minimum wage. By calling into question two of the three pillars, it is all of our wages that are under attack!
After two years of direct attacks
a new red line has been crossed!
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