The German Government has declared this Sunday that in January there will be a “considerable” increase in the interprofessional minimum wage, currently at 12 euros an hour, due to inflation and the increases negotiated in collective agreements.
“Not only will we continue to have a high level of inflation, but also the expected increases in collective agreements will be reflected in the minimum wage,” Labor Minister Hubertus Heil told the Bild newspaper on Sunday.
The consumer price index (CPI) reached its peak last October, with 10.4% in the same period, and after having stabilized in recent months, it stood at 7.4% in March.
The main economic institutes of the country estimate that year-on-year inflation will fall to 6%, which is, in any case, 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 until then this regulation did not exist.
Since then it has experienced successive increases, the most recent of which was carried out in October 2022, which by consensus between the Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals reached the current 12 euros per hour.
The next increase, which will define a commission created especially for this purpose, will be instituted in June, with effect from January 1, 2024.
The unions have asked for an increase to 14 euros, while the employer considers this demand “unrealistic”.
Heil, from the SPD, also announced a regulation on the working conditions of parcel couriers, which among other things will establish that they must not carry more than 20 kilos.
“Packages that weigh more than 20 kilos must be delivered in shipments of two people,” said the minister, who recalled the physical damage caused by the current conditions in which the couriers work.
Source: TSF
