“Not only will we continue to have high inflation, but also the expected increases in collective agreements will be reflected in the minimum wage,” Labor Minister Hubertus Heil told Bild daily on Sunday.
The consumer price index (CPI) peaked at 10.4% in the same period last October and, after stabilizing in recent months, stood at 7.4% in March.
The main economic institutions in the country estimate that annual inflation will fall to 6%, which is certainly a high level.
The interprofessional minimum wage was introduced in Germany in 2015, promoted by the Social Democratic Party (SPD), then a government partner in the grand coalition led by conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU).
It was set at 8.5 euros per hour, which was considered a milestone in a country where this scheme did not exist until then.
Since then it has gone through successive increases, the most recent of which took place in October 2022, which reached the current 12 euros per hour through an agreed decision between Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals.
The next increase, which will define a provision specifically created for this purpose, will be set in June, effective January 1, 2024.
Unions have asked for an increase to 14 euros, while employers consider this claim “unrealistic”.
Heil, of the SPD, also announced a regulation on the working conditions of parcel couriers, which stipulates, among other things, that they cannot carry more than 20 kilos.
“Packages over 20 kilograms must be delivered in two-person shipments,” said the minister, recalling the physical damage caused by the current conditions in which couriers work.
Source: DN
