Merkel shifts view on minimum wage

BERLIN - Agence France-Presse

An unidentified worker measures steel rolls at a German steel company in the western city of Duisburg. AFP photo

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants a minimum wage in sectors without one in a bid to create a “fair” labor market in the eurozone’s top economy, she told German news agency dpa yesterday.
Merkel said in an interview ahead of a congress of her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the eastern city of Leipzig next week that her party was ready to tackle the issue after years of resistance.
“People want a fair labor market and see that there are weaknesses,” she said. “The world is changing and a major party like the CDU must find the right approach to these changes on the basis of the values that define us.”
Merkel said she opposed a bid by the labour wing of her party to pass a motion at the Leipzig congress for a national minimum wage of around 7 euros ($10) per hour, calling instead for a more flexible model.
“We should leave it to a commission of wage partners (employers and employees) to set varying minimum wages for each region and industry in areas where there is no wage agreement,” she said.