GroenLinks and PvdA want to raise the minimum wage and related benefits by a further 6.5%. In this way, low-income people should be compensated for all price increases since January 2020. Left-wing parties want to collect the billions this costs from companies making “exorbitant profits” and from shareholders.
The parties will present their proposal on the day a number of big companies explain to the House of Representatives why wages are growing less rapidly than profits and payments to shareholders. Ahold Delhaize, Heineken and KPN, among others, were invited to this roundtable, as were the employers’ organization VNO-NCW and the trade unions FNV and CNV.
Left-wing opposition parties believe the cabinet is doing too little against what they call “rising inflation”. They point to research by Rabobank showing that the prices consumers paid in the store have risen faster than the prices they buy from companies. As a result, some companies make higher profits. They often use it to reward shareholders, such as by buying back their own shares.
Halve poverty
‘The Cabinet has promised to cut poverty in half, but what happens? Hundreds of thousands more people are living in poverty, while companies are making record profit after record profit,” says Jesse Klaver, leader of GroenLinks. According to PvdA leader Attje Kuiken, the cabinet is afraid to confront companies. “With this proposal we move the money from the shareholder to the stock filler.”
‘The Cabinet has promised to cut poverty in half, but what happens? ‘
The parties propose to levy a one-off 50 per cent tax on €10m in excess profits next year, good for €4bn in extra revenue. A permanent increase in the top corporate income tax rate from 25.8 to 30 percent is also expected to yield an additional €3.7 billion on a structural basis. A tax on share buybacks is expected to raise another 400 million euros.
Source: BNR
Fernando Dowling is an author and political journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. He has a deep understanding of the political landscape and a passion for analyzing the latest political trends and news.
