Nine chosen people meet and decide how high the minimum wage should be. Three representatives of the bosses, three union officials, two scientists and a chairman - the SPD-affiliated lawyer Christiane Schönefeld - this is the minimum wage commission set up by the state. This exclusive circle then determines the wage development of over six million people. Around 1/4 of all jobs are based on minimum wages - about twice as many as in 2015 when the minimum wage was introduced.
This body has now decided that it is appropriate for the minimum wage to increase by as much as 41 cents in the coming year. That's not quite 3.5 percent. As a reminder: the price increases for basic necessities rose between 15 and 20 percent in the past year. These price increases primarily affect people who are already poor, making them even poorer. Just to compensate for this fact, the minimum wage increase should have been around two euros to around 14 euros. Even the further increase by a further 41 euro cents in the following year 2025 does not change the fact that this decision is a pure mockery for the workers who have to work under these conditions.
It is remarkable, however, that this body has in a certain way lost its actual function with this resolution. Used as a body to negate class struggles, in which workers and job buyers moderated by the state shall reconcile their interests, the Minimum Wage Commission has now failed because the union officials could not agree to this farce. This shows that the contradictions in this sphere are also sharpening.
