The Greens and the Left party have decisively rejected the CDU’s proposal to raise the earnings threshold for mini‑jobs. The news outlet T‑Online reports that Manuel Hagel, the CDU’s top candidate from Baden‑Württemberg, had earlier called for the mini‑job limit to be increased to €1,000, arguing that such jobs are vital for families and low‑income workers. Currently, the threshold-linked to the minimum wage-is set at €603.
In speaking to T‑Online, Pascal Meiser, the Bundestag’s work‑policy spokesperson for the Left, said that Hagel still does not understand the harm caused by mini‑jobs. “Minijobs offer employees not only no independent social security for illness, unemployment, and old age, but also severely undermine the financing base of our solidarity‑based social‑insurance system” Meiser stated.
Meiser instead calls for nationwide collective agreements that guarantee decent working conditions and wages. He noted that Baden‑Württemberg has historically supported such measures, but Hagel has not mentioned them. “Apparently, Hagel would rather turn a country of well‑paid skilled workers into a land of precarious employment” Meiser added.
The Greens point to contradictory demands within the Coalition. “First the Confederation of Small and Medium‑Sized Enterprises demanded a strict limitation on part‑time rights; now Hagel acknowledges how important part‑time work is for families” says Greens’ spokesperson for work and social affairs, Armin Grau. He adds that the workers wing of the Union wants to largely abolish mini‑jobs, while Hagel even favors expanding them.
Grau concludes that the CDU is “completely chaotic on employment and social policy”. He criticises the fact that mini‑jobs result in lost social‑insurance contributions and notes that many people are trapped by them: “Workers who stay in mini‑jobs long term will end up empty‑handed in retirement”. Thus, he advocates abolishing mini‑jobs altogether, except for students and apprentices.
