German government coalition parties fail to agree on postal minimum wage

German government parties conservatives CDU/CSU and Social Democrats SPD last night failed to agree on the introduction of minimum wages for postal workers.

In a meeting of a mutual committee governing coalition issues, the two parties were set to decide whether a minimum wage agreement concluded between Deutsche Post World Net AG and services union ver.di will be extended to the whole industry.

Kurt Beck, head of SPD, said after the meeting chancellor Angela Merkel suggested a single minimum wage of 8 eur per hour instead of the 8-9.80 eur range of Deutsche Post’s wage agreement.

Volker Kauder, head of CDU/CSU’s parliamentary faction said this agreement did not match requirements to be extended to the whole industry.

The government earlier agreed to make the agreement mandatory for Deutsche Post’s competitors if it covers more than 50 pct of postal workers.

Deutsche Post’s competitors, mostly TNT NV’s TNT Post and Pin AG, will lose their cost advantages if Deutsche Post’s minimum wage agreement is extended to the whole industry.