German Cabinet approves minimum wage hike, key Scholz pledge

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s Cabinet has approved a plan to lift the country’s minimum wage to 12 euros ($13.60) per hour in October. The increase was a key pledge in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s election campaign last year. Germany has had a national minimum wage since 2015. It started off at 8.50 euros per hour but a commission in which labor unions and employers are represented reviewed it regularly. The panel set the current level of 9.82 euros and a planned rise to 10.45 euros to take place on July 1. The one-time increase the Cabinet approved for Oct. 1 still needs approval in parliament, where Scholz’s three-party coalition has a comfortable majority.