Overview
- Delegates in Stuttgart unanimously approved a Südbaden CDU motion to allow deviations from the statutory minimum wage for seasonal agricultural workers.
- A legal review commissioned by the Agriculture Ministry last year found such exemptions unlawful, citing equal-treatment principles and the minimum wage’s status as a statutory floor.
- The SPD has repeatedly rejected creating carve-outs for seasonal farm labor.
- Baden-Württemberg’s agriculture minister Peter Hauk argued lower wage costs are needed to keep production in Germany, and Saxony’s Georg-Ludwig von Breitenbuch urged pushing the plan despite coalition resistance.
- Germany’s minimum wage stands at €13.90 per hour and is set to rise to €14.60 by 2027, a trajectory farmers say threatens their competitiveness.