Harsh criticism of the Commission
Scholz calls for a minimum wage of 15 euros
May 14, 2024, 1:30 a.m
Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in favor of increasing the minimum wage in two steps to 15 euros. He clearly criticizes the employer side in the responsible commission for the last mini-increase. The SPD politician also has clear words in the working time debate.
For the first time, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has spoken out in favor of a significant increase in the minimum wage to 15 euros. “I am clearly in favor of raising the minimum wage first to 14 euros, then in the next step to 15 euros,” said Scholz in an interview with “Stern”. The Chancellor linked his demand to harsh criticism of the Minimum Wage Commission.
“After the increase to 12 euros at the beginning of this electoral period, some members of the minimum wage commission, which is supposed to carry out the annual increases, unfortunately broke with the social partnership tradition of making decisions by consensus. The employers only insisted on a mini-adjustment. That was a breach of taboo “said Scholz. The minimum wage is currently 12.41 euros.
Scholz’s initiative is likely to be met with approval from many people in the population. A Forsa survey for “Stern” recently showed that 57 percent were in favor of increasing the minimum wage to 15 euros. 38 percent would leave the increase from 12.41 euros to 12.82 euros planned for the beginning of 2025, five percent did not express an opinion.
In the debate about the 4-day week, the Chancellor also attacked all those experts who thought that the Germans were too lazy. “It is not okay for representatives from a certain elite to speak like this about employees in Germany. Anyone who makes such claims should be ashamed of themselves,” criticized Scholz.
Last year alone, 1.3 billion hours of overtime were worked. “In my opinion, anyone who talks about laziness no longer has everything on the fence.” When asked whether he also meant representatives of the FDP with his criticism, the SPD politician said: “I consider such statements to be unjustified and harmful, regardless of who makes them.”