The minimum wage in construction companies in Germany, which are not part of the employers’ union, will increase up to €15,20 per hour next year, the German daily “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” reported.
This compromise was negotiated Tuesday night 17.10. 2017 by the IG Bau construction industry union. “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” points out that the IG BAU union was in a situation of political pressure, because if the agreement would not succeeded, the minimum wage would have fallen to € 8,84 from 1 January 2018.
The reason for such pressure was that The Ministry of Labor is currently headed by Andrea Nahles of the SPD party that favors employees. In the new Angela Merkel government, which is due to be formed by the end of this year, there will be no Social Democrats, and the Labor Department will fall to another party – the Christian Democrats or the FDP, which are more skeptical of the wage regulation.
The agreement stipulates that workers receiving auxiliary jobs will receive € 12,20 per hour from next year. Skilled workers in western Germany will earn 15,20 euros per hour. IG Bau has failed to push through the same rise for builders in the east.
The minimum wage applies to companies not affiliated with employers’ organizations. Companies belonging to such associations pay higher wages resulting from tariff agreements. In this case skilled workers earn 19,51 euros per hour in the west of Germany and 18,15 euros in the former GDR.
Construction is one of the 15 sectors in which the industry’s minimum wage applies. However, the IG Bau union failed to reach an agreement on wage increases for staff cleaning offices and buildings. Currently the minimum wage in this industry is 9,05 euros in the east and 10 euros in the west of Germany.
