The existing pay system reflects the productivity, process stability and quality of the industries, explained the head of the IG metall district in north rhine-westphalia, knut giesler, in dusseldorf.
Earlier, arndt kirchhoff, president of the employers’ association for the metal industry in north rhine-westphalia, had complained in the "rheinische post" about what he saw as excessively high entry-level wages: "in our lowest pay scale group, unskilled workers already earn more than 14.50 euros an hour."
If simple work is to continue to be offered in this country, it must also be affordable. This has nothing to do with precarious employment, said kirchhoff. "But the distance to the minimum wage must not be six euros."
The difference between the minimum wage and the standard wage is too high for him, too, said giesler. But he drew a completely different conclusion: "we have to raise the minimum wage."He sees a need for action for increases in the upper salary groups, because work is becoming increasingly complex and challenging in the wake of digitalization.