German opposition launches minimum-wage drive
Mar 1, 2013, 12:54 PM
BERLIN (AP) – The German Parliament’s upper house has voted to introduce a mandatory national minimum wage, a challenge by the country’s opposition to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government ahead of elections in September.
Opposition parties gained a majority in the upper house, which represents Germany’s 16 states, when the center-left Social Democrats and Greens ousted Merkel’s conservative-led coalition from government in Lower Saxony state in January.
That gives them a chance to put pressure on Merkel and showcase plans for Germany, which holds national elections Sept. 22, by sending policy initiatives to the government-controlled lower house, which will likely reject them. The upper house voted Friday to introduce an across-the-board national minimum wage of (EURO)8.50 ($11.15) per hour.
Merkel’s coalition is divided on whether to introduce some kind of minimum wage.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
