The German government has advanced that for next January there will be a notable increase in the interprofessional minimum wage, currently at 12 euros per hour, due to inflation and the consequent increases in collective agreements.

“Not only will we continue to have a high level of inflation, but also the expected increases in collective agreements will be reflected in the minimum wage,” Labor Minister Hubertus Heil told the popular daily Bild on Sunday.

The consumer price index (CPI) registered its maximum level last October, with 10.4% year-on-year, and after having moderated in recent months, it stood at 7.4% in March.

The country’s main economic institutes estimate that year-on-year inflation will fall to 6%, which is still a high level.

The interprofessional minimum wage was introduced in Germany in 2015, promoted by the Social Democratic Party (SPD), then a government partner in the grand coalition led by the conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel.

It was established at 8.5 euros per hour worked, which was considered a milestone in a country where until then this regulation did not exist.

Since then, it has experienced successive increases, the most recent of which was in October 2022 and by decision of the current tripartite between Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals, until it reached the current 12 euros per hour.

The next increase, which will define a commission specially created for this purpose, will be established in June, to become effective on January 1, 2024.

From the unions it has been requested that it be increased to 14 euros, while the employers consider this claim “unrealistic”.

Heil, from the SPD, has also announced a regulation on the working conditions of parcel deliverers, which among other things will establish that they should not carry more than 20 kilos.

“Packages of more than 20 kilos must be delivered by expeditions of two people,” says the minister, who recalls before this medium the physical damage derived from the current conditions in which the delivery men work.

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