The German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) has accused Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative CDU party of unnecessarily delaying the adoption of measures to strengthen collective agreements in Germany. These measures stem from obligations under the EU Adequate Minimum Wages Directive, which requires countries with collective bargaining coverage of less than 80% to submit a national plan to the European Commission to improve this coverage. This is the case for Germany, which has a coverage rate of 49% and should have presented measures last year.
The DGB has accused Economy Minister Katherina Reiche of systematically blocking the adoption of the plan in the cabinet and has proposed a ready-made text. This was scheduled for Wednesday 4 February.
As a Berlin correspondent for the French and Swiss press since the late 1990s, I cover a wide range of economic, political and social issues, with a particular focus on the German business and labour market. My areas of interest include co-determination, digitalisation, demographics and ESG/DEI policies.