The euro zone’s 165 million workers have watched their wages slip behind inflation for a third year

“We’ve been short-changed for too long,” is how many of Europe’s top labour unions are framing wage claims this year, promising industrial action if those demands go unheard.

For workers across the 20 countries that share the euro, real compensation per hour has dropped by more than 7% since the start of 2021.

FNV, the largest trade union in the Netherlands, last week secured an 8% pay increase for this year at Schiphol plus a 2,000 euro one-off payment, along with a raft of other benefits.

German United Services Union ver.di is asking for a 10.5% pay increase for around 2.5 million federal and local government employees.