Minimum wage debate: demands increase, entrepreneurs warn!

Minimum wage debate: demands increase, entrepreneurs warn!

in Bremen, the debate is bubbling for the minimum wage! Today, on June 27, 2025, the increase was discussed to 14.60 euros per hour, but the reactions have been mixed. The Chamber of Workers criticizes this increase as inadequate and demands a minimum wage of at least 15.12 euros to effectively combat poverty. Peer Rosenthal from the Chamber of Employees refers to an EU directive that provides for a wage of at least 60 percent of the middle gross hourly wage. This guideline, which was published in the Official Journal on October 25, 2022, now has a binding character and is an urgent topic for politics in Germany.

The employers' association, on the other hand, characterizes the decision as balanced and sees no urgent need for action. Nathalie Rübsteck, the representative of the hotel and restaurant association in Bremen, is concerned: When raising at the wrong time, an additional burden on an industry threatens that is weak in sales anyway. Buten uninnen reports about these tensions and illustrates the differences between the interests of employees and employers.

The concerns of the industries

The Lower Saxony-Bremen trade association also warns that the increase in the minimum wage could trigger a wage spiral upwards. While politics takes care of the needs of the employees, this could be a challenge for companies. The relevant voices in the economy fear that farmers could shift certain types of fruit and vegetables abroad, where lower wages are paid.

In a larger context, the minimum wages in Europe move in Bulgaria in Bulgaria up to 2,638 euros in Luxembourg in 2025. In Germany, the statutory minimum wage, which increases to EUR 12.82 per hour on January 1, 2025, is generally considered sufficient, reaching around 58 percent of the gross earnings. Destatis lists the wages of the member states in detail and shows that the development in Germany is characterized in European comparison of a gradual improvement.

the EU frame

The use for appropriate minimum wages is not only a region: the EU strives for national minimum wages to increase to 60 percent of gross earnings by at least 2027. This clearly shows how complex the negotiations between employers, employees and politics are. The EU directive In the long run, discussion about the minimum wage significantly influence.

The increase to 14.60 euros per hour could therefore be more than just a numerical change; It is the beginning of a greater change that brings both opportunities and challenges for Bremen and beyond.