Chancellor's plan sparks displeasure among business owners. - Is a 15-euro minimum wage soon to be a reality for all?
The Chancellor openly told Stern magazine that he supports raising the minimum wage to €14 at first, followed by €15 later on. However, he's not responsible for this decision - a minimum wage commission is tasked with reaching a consensus between employers and employees to set the minimum wage.
Back in 2014, when the Federal Minister of Labor Andrea Nahles (now head of the Federal Employment Agency) introduced the minimum wage, she warned that it could lead to "arbitrariness and populism."
Strong backlash against the chancellor
Now, ten years later, the Chancellor laments in an interview with Stern that the employers on the commission insisted on a minor adjustment. He saw this as a "violation of a taboo," prompting him to enter the debate personally.
Business leaders are livid! Rainer Dulger (60), head of the BDA umbrella organization, lashes out at the Chancellor: "If politicians and trade unions continue to negotiate the minimum wage in public, then the minimum wage commission might as well be disbanded!"
Economists also share their disapproval:
► Holger Schäfer (55, IW Cologne): "The appropriate level of the minimum wage can be discussed, but the appropriate forum for this discussion is not politics, but the minimum wage commission."
► Jan Schnellenbach (51, TU Cottbus): "The wage increases scheduled for 2024 and 2025 are already adequate. Raising it to €15 euros would mean more than just compensating for inflation."
Doing so would mean a greater financial burden for companies and the possibility of a wage-price spiral.
The trade unions back the Chancellor
► Economist Thorsten Schulten (56) from the trade union-aligned WSI Institute: "The €15 that the Chancellor is calling for is no more than the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive."
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Source: symclub.org
