Your daily briefToday's most important news in one place

Unions demand increase in minimum wage

On Tuesday, Minister of Labour Marc Spautz, Minister of Social Security Martine Deprez, and Minister of the Economy Lex Delles met with social partners to discuss the minimum wage. Employers held their talks in the morning, while trade unions were scheduled for the afternoon. The trade unions have been calling for a structural adjustment for some time, while employers argue that a minimum wage increase would be unsustainable.

The minimum wage has recently returned to the forefront of discussions. An EU directive stipulates, among other requirements, that the minimum wage should stand at 60% of the median salary or 50% of the average salary. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Luxembourg’s minimum wage in 2023 was at 57% of median income and 45% of the average. Additionally, the rising cost of living has kept discussions around a minimum wage increase on the agenda.

As of March 2022, approximately 65,000 people earned the minimum wage, whether skilled or unskilled. The unskilled minimum wage currently stands at around €2,700, while the skilled minimum wage is €3,240.

Also today

• Luxembourg police have asked for assistance from the public in locating a missing teenager. 14-year-old Cynthia Dinis was last seen at around 2.30pm on Friday 20 March.
• The share of cross-border workers commuting to Luxembourg from France is growing, while arrivals from Belgium and Germany are declining.
• There is a limit on how many times a mammal can be cloned before suffering “mutational meltdown”, Japanese scientists have discovered, after making 1,200 clones over two decades that started off with a single mouse.
• Iran and Israel traded strikes on Tuesday, as the Middle East war showed no sign of de-escalation after US President Donald Trump signalled “very good talks” to end the three-week conflict.
• NASA announced it will invest $20 billion to build a permanent lunar base, while pausing its plans for the Gateway orbital station, signaling a major shift in the Artemis program.
• A 600-year-old grape seed discovered in the toilets of a medieval French hospital is genetically identical to the grapes still being used to make pinot noir wine, scientists said Tuesday.

On air

The Algo-rhythm is back and this time Tom has used Depeche Mode as the starting point!

Figure of the day

Electric vehicles approach 19% of new car registrations in Europe

• The share of electric mobility in the European car market is rising, with 18.8% of all newly registered cars being electric. By comparison, petrol and diesel vehicles account for 22.5% and 8.1% respectively, together representing 30.6% of the market. Hybrids make up 48.5% of which 9.8% are plug-in hybrids.
• Over the course of February, the trend picked up in the major markets of Germany, Spain, and Italy. In contrast, new registrations declined in France. Volkswagen remains the market leader, while Stellantis recorded the largest increase in market share.
  

Stay connected: tune in to RTL Today Radio, now on DAB+, and follow the latest news as it unfolds on our website.