Madam, – Take a flourishing company that employs 10 people on minimum wage. Reducing the wage by €1 per hour would “save” it €20,800 per annum. (40 hours per week x 52 x 10). Would the company take on extra staff if it did not need to? I don’t think so. Would it put the money in an envelope and send it to the Government? Probably not.
I cannot see how such a decree can benefit anyone. It is difficult enough to live on the minimum wage as it is. To have it reduced would make life impossible for those who receive it. That a modern, western government can cook up such a miserly, mean, medieval idea is frightening.
I have a better one. Switch off the heating in Government Buildings for a month (preferably now). That would help to bring home the reality of some people’s lives. – Yours, etc,