German Chancellor Angela Merkel has signalled her readiness to accept the Social Democrats' (SPD) demand for a legal minimum wage in order to secure their agreement to form a governing coalition, as negotiations enter the final stretch.
Merkel began preparing her conservatives for a compromise by telling a Christian Democrats (CDU) youth rally late on Friday that the 8.50 euros per hour pay floor which the SPD demands "will play a role" in future.
"It won't be our vision of a minimum wage," she added, conceding her party was unlikely to get its own way over the SPD on the issue.
The SPD has given up its campaign promise to hike taxes on the rich but will not budge on the minimum wage. Nearly half a million SPD members will vote on the coalition deal by early December, injecting more uncertainty into the whole process.
Merkel's parliamentary leader Volker Kauder also prepared for a compromise by telling the mass-circulation Bild am Sonntag paper, in comments released before publication, that "growth and employment must not suffer" from its introduction. Some businessleaders are worried that it will undermine competitiveness.
Kauder said it might be wise to introduce the minimum wage more gradually in the former East Germany- where pay is lower and unemployment higher - to avoid putting jobs at risk. But trade unions who back the SPD might find that hard to accept.
Source: Reuters
