Germany's Amazon workers to see base pay rate rise to €14 per hour

US online retailing giant Amazon is planning to increase the base rate for its logistics workforce in Germany to €14 ($15.33) per hour nationwide.
Amazon's German subsidiary announced in Munich on Wednesday that the new minimum pay rate would apply from September. The company said it will hold talks with the respective works councils where necessary.
According to the company, more than 20,000 of its 36,000 German Amazon employees work in logistics. Amazon logistics salaries vary from region to region, meaning that in some places the entry-level wage could be raised to more than €14 an hour. According to an Amazon spokesman, the current minimum pay rate is €13 "and upwards."
If the planned increase is taken into account, the company says entry-level salaries in logistics have increased by 16% since the beginning of last year. After two years of service, logistics employees without prior qualifications earn an average gross annual salary of €37,000.
Amazon is reacting to a recent round of sometimes strong salary and collective bargaining increases in the German labour market. The online retailing giant rejects collective agreements and has been in dispute with the Verdi services union - one of Germany's largest unions - for years.
Germany is slated to raise its minimum wage from €12 to €12.41 per hour beginning in January 1, 2024, under new recommendations from the country's minimum wage commission.
The minimum wage would then rise again to €12.82 12 months later under the commission's recommendations.
German labour representatives, however, argue the minimum wage rise is not enough for workers hurt by high inflation.