The Government should set a minimum salary closer to the level of the living wage, both in the real sector and in the budgetary sector of the national economy. According to a study presented by platzforma.md and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Moldova, in partnership with the Clean Clothes Campaign, the minimum living salary in urban areas is 12,306.8 lei, while in rural areas is 11,359.6 lei, IPN reports.
In a roundtable meeting, there was presented a case study of the clothing industry. According to the authors, the textiles, clothing, leather and footwear sector is one of the most important sectors of the national economy. The average salary in the textile industry, which in the third quarter of 2018 was 6,027 lei, represents 50% of the minimum living wage.
“My husband has worked in Israel for almost six years. He went to earn money for an apartment in Chisinau. I remained at home near the child. Meanwhile, we bought an apartment that is 60 square meters in area, but he regrettably remained to work there as it is very hard to earn money for decent living here,” stated a female employee. “A workload is paid about 170 lei. There are clothing models where the workloads are heavier. To do everything, we remain after working hours and sometimes come here at 7:00am,” stated another female employee.
“The salary of 6,000 lei was my highest pay ever. The lowest pay was about 2,000 lei. Everything depends on the orders placed with the factory. My husband works in the city as a drives. We try to make ends meet with the incomes we earn both and save money where we can. I calculated that if I had a salary of 10,000 lei, we could cover meet more needs. We spend about 500-600 lei on food weekly,” stated another worker.
The study authors recommend the authorities to encourage and motivate companies that pay living wages to their employees. Trade unions and civil society are recommended to increase the number of trade unionists among workers of the textile and other industries. It is also recommended working out symbolic recompense forms, such as ethics certificates, community standards and staging public advocacy campaigns in the textile industry and later extending them to other sectors of the national economy .
A decent living wage is the minimum income earned for work during a standard working week (of at most 48 hours) that enables an employee to purchases food products for him and his family, to pay rent, for medical care and clothing and to save money for unplanned costs.
