3.) Minimum Wage, Again
It looks like the SPD and Greens are gearing up to formally endorse a 15 Euro minimum wage by 2026 as part of the 2025 election campaign.
Last year some in the SPD started talking about a 14 Euro minimum wage and several individual politicians have already endorsed 15 Euros. The Greens' federal parliamentary group formally endorsed a 15 Euro minimum wage, as have Die Linke and Ver.di (the trade union). The figures come from the new EU directive about minimum wages, which says that minimum wages should be set at a level of 60% of a country's median income, which works out to just over 14 Euros an hour in 2024, just under 15 in 2025, and just above 15 in 2026.
Forsa released a survey conducted over the past month, asking the general population about their opinion on a 15 Euro minimum wage. Overall, 57% are in support of another Bundestag law to raise the minimum wage to 15 Euros an hour, 38% would prefer to continue the current schedule as determined by the minimum wage commission, and 5% were unsure.
Majorities of BSW (67%), SPD (64%), Greens (62%), and AfD (56%) voters are in favor of raising the minimum wage with a law, while only 42% of CDU voters and 35% of FDP voters support it (53% and 62% supported the current schedule).
The SPD and Greens view the minimum wage not only as socially just, but also a vote winner for election time.
...aaaaaaand Scholz endorses a 15 Euro minimum wage. He wants a phase-in, first raising the minimum wage to 14 Euros an hour to 15, similar to the phase-in during 2022.
It's only a matter of time before the SPD and Greens adopt a 15 Euro minimum wage as an official policy proposal and campaign plank for 2025.
