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With its latest lowering of interest rates the ECB confirms the sluggish state of the European economy and its expectations of a weak recovery. Low interest rates are necessary but not sufficient to spur growth in an environment of constant pressure on costs, affecting both wages and jobs.

Wage-led growth is the key: decent and growing wages in line with productivity - and not lagging it as has been the case in the last decade - will lead to healthy household purchasing power and demand, leading to growing and more sustainable economies.

An ILO study by O.Onaran and G. Galanis, shows that "the global economy in aggregate is wage-led". For this wage-led growth to happen, a commitment towards wage policy coordination will be needed by some major countries, in order to reverse the wage competition policy stance of the last three decades. A strengthening of the bargaining power of labor with stronger unions, collective bargaining, international labor standards and social security are essential drivers of this radical reversal of the distribution of wealth.

"The real driver of economic health is decent wages" says UNI Global Union and counting on the Central Bank action will not suffice.