comment by
Roland Preuss
In an ideal world with powerful unions, a minimum wage would not be necessary. The collective bargaining partners would set wages across the board that also guarantee low earners the ability to live from a full-time job. But Germany has moved further and further away from this beautiful world of good work. In 2000, around 70 percent of employees were still working under a collective agreement, 20 years later it is only half. At least for the other half, this usually means: more insecurity, less wages, often not even ten euros an hour.