German minimum wage “illegal”

Barely two months after it came into force the minimum wage for postal workers in Germany has been declared illegal.

Minimum rates for those delivering letters were introduced in Germany on 1 January (see Labour Research February 2008). But a Berlin court concluded last month that the labour minister had exceeded his powers in bringing them in.

The court ruled that they could only apply to workers who were not covered by a collective agreement and that there was an agreement between some of the new delivery companies and a newly founded union, the GNBZ.

Verdi, the union which represents the vast majority of Germany’s postal workers, has called GNBZ a “pseudo trade union” and argues that the court’s decision is “completely incomprehensible”. The government is appealing against the ruling.