Wieland does not think coordination at the highest employer and union levels with government representatives makes much sense. "After all, the chancellor has already bypassed the collective bargaining partners and pushed through a permanent 22% increase in the minimum wage this year. That's significantly more than inflation compensation and understandably creates a desire for adjustment among those who earn more than the minimum wage but now see a significantly smaller gap between that and it."
The government should generally stay out of wage negotiations and leave them to employers and unions, Wieland urges. Ideally, wages should rise more where labor is scarce and less where demand for labor is lower." For that reason, he says, attention should be paid to conditions in different sectors, regions and companies as much as possible. "In certain sectors, real wage losses are inevitable. In other areas, labor is just very scarce and companies can pass prices on to customers."
Börsen-Zeitung: Das Konstrukt der konzertierten Aktion schadet mehr als es hilft