Victory in the German elections for a party pledging a 12 Euro minimum wage is a major boost to the campaign to end poverty pay across Europe by improving the EU’s directive on minimum wages.

Germany is currently among the two thirds of EU member states where the minimum wage is set below the EU’s at risk of poverty threshold (60% of the national median wage) as well as below 50% of the average wage.

At 9.60 Euro an hour, it is just 48% of the median wage and 43% of the average wage in Germany.

Following a campaign by the German trade union confederation, a 12 Euro minimum wage became a headline election pledge of the SPD, which won the election and says it will enact the policy next year.

That would bring Germany’s minimum wage up to 60% of the national median wage and result in a 25% pay increase for 10 million workers.

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