Construction, Financial Services, Latvia, Legislation, Real Estate, Wages

"The initial agreement period is three years. A commission will be created to take the decision about extending the agreement period in absence of any objections from the signatories. Also, a mechanism has to be created for negotiating possible alterations to the general collective agreement in case of a crisis in the sector preventing the companies from paying workers the minimum wage specified in the agreement," she told the press.

At the moment the signing of the general collective agreement is supported by the companies participating in four industry associations - the Latvian Partnership of Building Contractors, Latvijas Celu Buvetajs (LCB) road building association, the Latvian Association of Power Engineers and Energy Constructors (LEEA) and the Latvian Builders Association (LBA).

The own-account construction volumes of these four organizations total EUR 433 million. For the general collective agreement to be binding on the industry, its needs to be signed by companies with aggregate own-account construction larger than 50 percent of the sector's total turnover or EUR 700 million.

"It means we still have to secure support of the companies with aggregate turnover of some EUR 300 million. We are actively communicating with the companies outside the industry associations, and I think that we will be able to start the general collective agreement signing process in May and to get the required number of signatures in two months after that," Fromane said.

It is planned that the general collective agreement of the Latvian construction industry will take effect on January 1, 2019. The agreement provides for the minimum monthly wage in the construction sector at EUR 780 and, in case of part-time workers, the minimum hourly wage at EUR 4.67.

In Europe, general collective agreements establishing the minimum wage in a particular industry are an effective tool for defending the employees' rights and supporting skilled workforce. General collective agreements also help fight the shadow economy and unreported wages.