How political symbolism is destroying collective bargaining autonomy and the economy

What is being sold as a feel-good social policy project turns out, on closer inspection, to be economic harakiri: the politically fuelled increase in the statutory minimum wage recommended by the Minimum Wage Commission is nothing more than an ideologically motivated intervention in collective bargaining autonomy – at the wrong time and with fatal consequences.

The Federal Association of the Security Industry (BDSW) is issuing an urgent warning about a development that not only undermines a fundamental principle of social partnership, but also jeopardises the competitiveness of entire industries. It is time to take off the rose-tinted glasses of rhetoric about fairness and take a look at reality.

The statutory minimum wage is supposed to help combat poverty and ensure fairness – but the current increase is more like an economic accelerant than a social achievement. In the midst of an economic downturn, with companies struggling for stability and uncertainty growing, this state-imposed wage hike is an unprecedented power play. Anyone who believes that companies are able to absorb wage increases of over eight per cent just like that has either never run a company – or is acting out of purely party political motives.

What we are witnessing is the creeping demise of collective bargaining autonomy. The Minimum Wage Commission was once created to act reliably and in line with economic realities on the basis of collective bargaining developments. But if political noise increasingly becomes the yardstick for statutory minimum wages, then collective bargaining will degenerate into window dressing. This is not only an attack on employers’ associations and trade unions – it is a vote of no confidence in the entire system of social partnership.

The impact on public procurement is particularly alarming. If security companies bound by collective agreements are systematically disadvantaged in tenders due to higher wage costs, this opens the door to dubious low-cost providers – at the expense of quality, security and fairness. What follows is ruinous competition in which the cheapest provider wins, not the best.

At the same time, wage equalisation between unskilled and skilled workers blurs key performance incentives. Why bother with further training if the difference in wage levels is hardly noticeable? The minimum wage increase will thus backfire when it comes to securing skilled workers – especially in an industry such as the security sector, where professionalism is not a luxury but a necessity.

And as if that weren’t enough, the next wage-price spiral is already looming on the horizon: when wages rise, prices rise too – in retail, catering and services. The next round of collective bargaining will respond to this – and so the spiral continues, driven by political activism that ignores the fundamentals of economic reason.

But what does economic reality matter when you want to calculate justice with a calculator? The main thing is that the minimum wage sounds like a statement of principle. And if, in the end, collective bargaining autonomy, competitiveness and the development of skilled workers fall by the wayside – well, that’s just the price you pay for a bit of party political posturing. After all, you can’t have everything: fair conditions and good headlines.

Dr Claudia Mrozek – You can also find this article in the Euro Security DACH 6-2025 issue.