But he said savings were being made "off the back of a wage freeze, which is not sustainable".
Interestingly, Ontario had its own labor flare-up this week over a proposed wage freeze and a law that could limit strikes.
His salary went up by 1% last year, but he's now looking at the prospect of a three-year wage freeze.
Italy plans a three-year wage freeze and, like Germany and Greece, will replace only a fraction of retiring workers with new hires.
There was a brief wage freeze, but since then she says her pay packet has kept up with the rising cost of living.
"The working classes who were asked to cut back or to take a wage freeze now want their old salaries back, " says Wong.
The results of the PCS ballot come after unions representing 14, 000 cabin crew at British Airways have warned of strikes over management plans for job losses and a wage freeze.
The TUC has issued its own economic plan, which contains measures including cutting VAT, reversing the public sector wage freeze and giving a one-off increase in child benefits before Christmas.
First, Germany has a system of centralised wage negotiations unmatched by other countries, which made it much easier to negotiate with its unions what was in effect a national wage freeze.
Over the past year, Europe's sovereign-debt storm has forced Rome to introduce emergency measures including an unpopular new property tax, a public-sector wage freeze and raising the retirement age to 68 from 65.
In Romania, too, public-sector unions are up in arms over spending cuts that were decreed under a bail-out agreed with the IMF and EU. Portugal's public workers held a 24-hour strike in March to protest against a wage freeze.
The five-year deal included some serious concessions from the union, including a wage-freeze and higher healthcare premiums for all members.
FORBES: Is Herbert Kohler's Union Deal a Possible Blueprint for Wisconsin?
"Added to this, our support for the social wage with a council tax freeze is helping to put money in people's pockets and is supporting hard pressed households, " he added.
"While we are pleased that government has rejected the siren calls of some employers to freeze the minimum wage for adult workers and apprentices, these increases are still far below inflation and will leave the lowest paid facing a real terms cut, " said the TUC.
The Argentine government has announced a two-month price freeze on supermarket products and is reportedly trying to limit union wage increases to no more than 20 percent.
FORBES: Three Examples (Or Is It One) Of How To Have A Lower Standard Of Living
应用推荐