Work: Klingbeil increases pressure on minimum wage commission

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Work
Klingbeil increases pressure on minimum wage commission

Scholz spoke out in favor of a minimum wage of 14 euros in the first step and 15 in the second – Klingbeil agreed. photo

© Kay Nietfeld/dpa

It will take another year until the Minimum Wage Commission makes its next decisions. Nevertheless, the SPD is already driving the debate about this with clear expectations.

SPD leader Lars Klingbeil has reiterated his call for a significant increase in the minimum wage and has once again increased the pressure on the responsible commission. In an interview with the dpa, he made it clear that he could imagine a reform of the committee made up of representatives of the collective bargaining parties if there was no mutually agreed increase of an appropriate amount next year. “Anything is possible, I want to say that clearly,” he replied to a related question. “For me, the focus is clearly on people who work hard being seen and getting the respect they deserve.”

In June 2023, the Minimum Wage Commission decided for the first time against the will of employee representatives to increase the minimum wage per hour to 12.41 euros this January and 12.82 euros on January 1, 2025. This was not enough for the unions, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the departure from the principle of consensus a “breaking of taboos”. The next decision on the increases in 2026 and 2027 is due in the middle of next year. Scholz recently spoke out in favor of 14 euros in the first step and 15 in the second step, and Klingbeil agreed.

The SPD leader told the dpa that he was counting on the Commission to make a sensible decision next year and was therefore not calling for a reform of the Commission at this point in time. But the discussion would have to be held if that did not happen. “The Commission must return to the culture of making a joint proposal. That is my clear expectation,” he said. “And if there are no corresponding proposals there, then there will certainly be political debates about it.”

dpa

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