The figures for the construction industry initially look good, but if you factor out special effects, the situation is different. The biggest problem in the industry, however, is delivery bottlenecks.
Despite comparatively weak new orders, the German construction industry achieved record values in January. According to the Federal Statistical Office, incoming orders reached a volume of EUR 7 billion, as did monthly sales of EUR 4.9 billion.
Both values were driven up by strong price increases. However, adjusted for this price development and for calendar and seasonal effects, orders were 10.8 percent lower than in December of the previous year and also 4.4 percent lower than in January 2021.
However, the companies are still sitting on a thick backlog of orders that they could not process quickly enough due to the material supply bottlenecks. According to the Federal Office, at the end of 2021 the order backlog was around 15.5 percent higher than a year earlier at EUR 64.3 billion.
No agreement on minimum wage in construction
In the negotiations on the collectively agreed minimum wage in the construction industry, the arbitration round did not initially produce any results either. The employers were skeptical after the talks led by the arbitrator Rainer Schlegel because the proposals were too long-term and too expensive.
In his award, the President of the Federal Social Court proposed increasing the lower minimum wage in three stages by 60 cents each. After that, there should be an annual automatic compensation in the amount of inflation. The higher minimum wage II for skilled workers, on the other hand, is to be completely eliminated next year.
These minimum wages have been in effect up to now
Nevertheless, the IG Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt tends to accept the saying, as announced in Frankfurt. Both sides have a declaration period of 14 calendar days. A complete abolition of the collectively agreed minimum wage would be a disaster for the industry because it would be even harder to find people, explained IG-BAU boss Robert Feiger.
Until the end of 2021, the construction minimum wage I of 12.85 euros per hour and 15.70 euros for skilled workers in the west and in Berlin (minimum wage II). The lower wage limits are thus well above the statutory minimum wage of 9.82 euros per hour, which the federal government wants to increase to 12 euros from October.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
