Minimum wage of € 11 in the meat industry

In the summer of last year, the bargaining parties in the meat industry agreed on a collective agreement. As published in the Federal Gazette on December 30, the Federal Ministry of Labor has declared the new collective agreement to be generally binding. While the minimum wage in 2021 was €10,80 per hour, a minimum wage of €01.01.2022 will apply from January 11st, 12,30. Later it should increase to €XNUMX. Through the declaration of general applicability (AVE), collective agreements also apply to all employers and employees who are not bound by collective agreements and within the scope of the collective agreement. The AVE covers all domestic employers, but under certain conditions also foreign employers in the context of the posting of employees. Since the Federal Ministry of Labor saw the AVE in the public interest in this case, this collective agreement has now been declared generally binding. (Source BMAS)

Irrespective of this, the NGG trade union would like to increase wages in the butcher trade by 5-6,5% in the coming collective bargaining round this year. In addition, she calls for employer contributions to company pension schemes to be significantly increased. The NGG is also demanding further top-ups from employers for training contracts. For example, through monthly allowances for travel expenses. But back to the minimum wage of €11. Here the German butchers' association has obtained from the Federal Ministry of Labor that all butchery businesses are exempt from this increase. This means that the statutory minimum wage of €9,82 per hour continues to apply. The delimitation based on the number of employees of 49 employees, which was originally used as an exception criterion, is also off the table.

The delimitation of 49 employees continues to apply only to the law to safeguard employee rights in the meat industry (GSA Fleisch). My Opinion: Of course it is difficult for employers to pay significantly better wages with profit margins between 3-8%. On the other hand, the number of trainees has been steadily declining for years and finding employees for production and sales has now mutated into a Herculean task. Salary isn't everything either, but our working conditions aren't necessarily a benefice with which we can thrive, depending on the industry. That's why I think it's essential to increase wages, as far as this is feasible, especially in the training sector. I am also not sure whether the DFV is doing the butcher trade a favor by enforcing this exemption. In which companies will unskilled employees in particular want to work if the minimum wage is increased to €12 throughout Germany in the course of the year and there may be further exceptions for the butcher trade? Source: German specialist publisher