Olaf Scholz’s initiative: This is what the media write about the minimum wage of 15 euros

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has spoken out in favor of a gradual 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 star. As expected, he received criticism from employers for this move. Scholz doesn’t fare much better in the comment columns of German newspapers.

This is what the media write about Olaf Scholz’s proposal:

Baden Latest News (Karlsruhe)

“A fall from grace rarely comes alone. Once again, politicians are interfering in the debate about the minimum wage, and once again those in government want to tell the independent commission that sets the minimum wage limit how it has to decide. With one serious difference: this time it’s not a backbencher , but the Federal Chancellor himself.”

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

“If politicians predetermine collective bargaining rounds with the minimum wage, the danger of economically unsustainable agreements increases. The creeping increase in long-term unemployment already calls for caution. The fact that Scholz is now burdening the sluggish economy with a minimum wage threat is an affront to the economy and shows arrogance .”

Cologne City Gazette

“The demand for a 15 euro minimum wage is not only a shot across the bow for the economy. Such a move also runs counter to the promise of the former SPD labor minister and current BA boss Andrea Nahles. She had promised at the time that a commission made up of employers and unions set the minimum wage year after year. The traffic light has already violated this once under pressure from the SPD. It is now clear: the Social Democrats fundamentally want to determine the minimum wage based on economic criteria.

New Osnabrücker Zeitung

“Employers rightly see the fact that Scholz is now interfering again, and this time as Chancellor, as a breach of a taboo. There is no need for a dirigiste state that patronizes entrepreneurs. What is needed is more competitiveness, more flexibility. But anyone who forces higher minimum wages on companies also deprives them of leeway better pay for all those who earn above the minimum wage and want to be rewarded for their achievements, the working middle class, which the SPD supposedly cares about so intensively. The call for 15 euros is therefore a wrong signal and a rather clumsy election campaign maneuver. The growing shortage of skilled workers is putting pressure on employers to pay more anyway. There is no need for an overreaching chancellor.”

Reutlinger General-Anzeiger

“Chancellor Olaf Scholz is calling for an increase in the minimum wage to 15 euros. But that is just cheap election campaign noise. Because the determination is not a matter for politics. The decision is made by employers and unions. With his interference, the SPD man is undermining collective bargaining autonomy. It is also questionable whether employees benefit in the long term. Because higher wages lead to higher prices and set in motion a negative spiral. Work – and low-skilled jobs at that – becomes more expensive: a problem that Germany is already struggling with in international comparison Companies would have done a disservice to low-income earners if they relocated jobs abroad or replaced them with technology.

Stuttgart newspaper

“The Chancellor has not yet announced that he intends to intervene again through legislation for higher minimum wages. However, his words raise expectations among the people in the country that, in the worst case, it will be difficult for him to live up to. The best thing would be for employers and unions to come together in the Minimum Wage Commission would regularly agree on an appropriate increase in the minimum wage in mid-2025. If they don’t, the commission would probably be dead. From now on, the minimum wage would be a regular election issue. That would be bad for social peace and would hardly contribute to economically reasonable wages .”

Südkurier (Constance)

“There are certainly arguments for setting the minimum wage politically. There are also arguments for having it set by a commission with members from business and science. However, there are very few arguments for setting up such a commission and then making its recommendations in the Politically overruling Scholz’s advance, which is causing anger in the economy and the coalition, is more than just further evidence of the Chancellor’s very own communication behavior. It is particularly deplorable because it negatively charges an actually meaningful debate from the start . So there are clearly audible voices in the CDU that consider the minimum wage to be too low and criticize the way it has been set so far. But if Scholz really wants to change something, he shouldn’t just put any nice numbers into the media echo chamber – but tackle the process behind the minimum wage.”

World (Berlin)

“But it doesn’t help: Wage developments are lagging behind inflation, and significant increases are needed in the medium term. But a government that can’t get its spending under control, but at the same time demands more from companies without worrying about relieving the burden on employees and a well-thought-out location policy “You’re not doing your job properly. Just campaigning with wage demands won’t solve the problem, especially since the Chancellor will no longer be called Olaf Scholz for a long time.”

Sources: DPA, , .