The SPD leader wants to push through a higher minimum wage in the federal government.
(Photo: IMAGO/Reiner Zensen)
Berlin According to party leader Lars Klingbeil, the SPD wants to campaign for a minimum wage increase of up to 14 euros per hour. “We will ensure that Germany implements the European Minimum Wage Directive next year. The SPD in the federal government will push for this,” Klingbeil told the “Bild am Sonntag”. “Then the minimum wage can also rise again. According to experts, if fully implemented, that would be between 13.50 and 14 euros.”
At the suggestion of the Minimum Wage Commission on Monday, the minimum wage in Germany is to be raised from 12 to 12.41 euros on January 1, 2024 and a year later to 12.82 euros.
Klingbeil said that the increase was not sufficient. “Life has become more expensive, which is why we generally need higher wages in the country.” He was shocked that employers did not see what the reality of life was like for many millions of employees in Germany. “Inflation eats up wages, you have to think about what you can still afford at the end of the month. More than 41 cents would have been absolutely justified.”
For the first time in its history, the Minimum Wage Commission, whose decision is decisive for the statutory determination, did not agree on its recommendation at the beginning of the week. The employee representatives considered the increase to be too low, were outvoted and raised serious allegations against the employers’ side.
While the EU Minimum Wage Directive does not set a uniform level, it does set standards for how statutory minimum wages can be set, updated and enforced. In addition, EU countries must set action plans by November 2024 to increase collective bargaining coverage if the rate is below 80 percent.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had already made it clear last week that he personally would have liked the minimum wage to be raised more sharply. “Personally, I could have imagined a better increase now,” said Scholz. However, he defended the decision to exceptionally raise the minimum wage by law from 10.45 euros to 12 euros on October 1, 2022 and then to leave the decision back to the Commission.
The increase was not high enough for the majority of people in Germany either. In a survey for the current ZDF “Politbarometer”, 62 percent of those questioned stated that they considered the intended increase to be too low.
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