The German economics ministry fears that 50,000 jobs will be lost in the country’s postal sector ifthe German government’s plan to introduced a minimum wage for mail workers goes ahead.
Officials from the ministry voiced the fears at a meeting with Deutsche Post competitorslast week, according to the magazine Der Spiegel, which cited an internal document.
The coalition government approved the controversial minimum wage measure in September, butprivate competitors such as PIN Group and TNT Post are planning to challenge the move.
Deutsche Post and the trade union ver.di have agreed on a minimum wage of between EUR 8 andEUR 9.80 an hour, which the government is considering declaring as the binding level across thesector. PIN and TNT want their own talks with ver.di with a view to negotiating a lower wage.
German chancellor Angela Merkel last week met Deutsche Post chairman Klaus Zumwinkel to speakabout the minimum wage deal and asked him to find a solution that would also be acceptable to itsrivals, German media said.
