German chems oppose minimum wage proposal

10 June 2008 14:56  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS news)--German chemical employers are opposed to plans by the country’s federal labour ministry to set minimum wages, chemical employers association BAVC said on Tuesday.

 

The proposed legislative action would undermine the independence of the collective bargaining process and was not in line with Germany’s federal constitution, the association said.

 

Unlike employers and unions, government did not have the expertise to set wages in industry, said BAVC.

 

Government-set minimum wages would actually cost jobs, rather than help less-qualified workers find and keep work, it said.

 

Meanwhile, wage policies would become a permanent theme in election campaigning, it added.

 

Germany’s coalition government between the centrist Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats has been debating minimum wage proposals for months.

 

Business daily Handelsblatt reported on Tuesday that the government under chancellor, Angel Merkel, was poised to reach a decision on the proposals put forward by labour minister, Olaf Scholz.

 

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By: Stefan Baumgarten
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