It is a political success for CSV Prime Minister Luc Frieden: At the end of the third round of negotiations, the government and social partners found an “accord op de grousse principle” with the Tripartite. The union of OGBL and LCGB gave up its demand for a structural increase in the minimum wage on Thursday. In favor of a tax credit that would improve the minimum wage “on a net basis,” Frieden declared after the meeting at a press conference in Senningen Castle. Every minimum wage recipient should receive an additional 200 euros net in two stages, the largest part of which should be paid out on January 1st, the rest on July 1st, 2027.
In the discussions it became clear relatively quickly that a structural increase would not be feasible with the UEL due to the economic situation, said OGBL President Nora Back, explaining the trade union union’s relent. The government’s proposal to increase the minimum wage with taxpayers’ money was not the path that the unions had chosen, but in the end they got the best possible for the minimum wage earners. LCGB President Patrick Dury described the tax credit as a “compromise in a tight situation that was extremely difficult,” adding that at this point it was “the best result that we were able to negotiate.” According to Frieden, before the agreement is signed on Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning, OGBL and LCGB must obtain the approval of their respective bodies, to which they promised a month ago at the “Parc Hotel Alvisse” to “continue until everything is achieved, if necessary by October 2028”.
