Harvesting Spreewald gherkins and asparagus for 8.50 Euro per hour? A battle presently being fought in parts of Brandenburg, Germany has opponents and supporters for the introduction of a statutory minimum wage. While politicians, such as minister for workers Günter Baaske (SPD) advocate for a minimum wage, farmers fear the loss of many low paid jobs in the fruit and vegetable sector. "If farms in Brandenburg have to pay 8.50 per hour, that would be the end for many production areas where there is intensive labour involved," said Andreas Jende, secretary of the Brandenburg horticultural association.
"In this industry there are around 5500 seasonal workers hired, for example, when harvesting asparagus, cucumbers, apples or cherries," explained Jende. These products must remain competitive on the global market, otherwise they will be replaced by cheaper fruit and vegetables from abroad. "Four seasonal workers would be easily replaced by one permanent worker, so that could be 1000 permanent jobs," said Jende. Politicians must therefore consider this before introducing a minimum wage.
Minister for workers Baaske, sees it differently: "In Brandenburg every fifth full time worker earns less than 8.50 per hour," he stressed. Also well qualified people who have finished professional training are put off by the low wage. "Something needs to be urgently done. There has to be an end to work poverty. Anybody who is working full time should not need additional social benefits to survive," said Baaske.
Just for the yearly Spreewald gherkin harvest, 3500 seasonal workers are employed, a lot of whom are Romanian or Polish. How much they earn the industry will not say, "We want a decent payment for seasonal workers in the fields, but have no influence on it," says Andreas Trauba from the association of Spreewald in Lübben. Gherkin growers and processers in the association are united.