Green Minister Calls for Minimum Wage

Germany's Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper on Monday a national minimum wage would be a good idea. The Green party member said a guaranteed wage would reassure people worried about how they would be affected by the government's planned welfare reforms. Trade unions, whose help the government would need to pass a minimum wage law, and some ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) members disagree whether to move forward on the initiative. A task force made up of SPD and opposition Christian Democratic Union representatives is set to analyze the issue and present its conclusions this autumn.