There are now 36 people who have contacted us because they have heard that the minimum wage is coming into force in the stonemasonry trade. People are surprised, although the surprise is clearly not related to the actual fact, but rather to the fact that none of the 36 people were stonemasons.
We have to admit to ourselves that we are obviously not used to being the focus of a report that is on the morning radio program or worthy of an article in the business section of national newspapers. But when we do make it, people from outside the industry point it out to us.
First of all, this is really excellent, but it makes you think: for us Metzen, the minimum wage is not really new. On the one hand, this topic was already discussed at conferences years ago, and on the other hand, as an industry that reinvents itself every day, we are generally known throughout society for being at the forefront of innovation, tackling modernization head-on and adapting to the challenges of our time without delay.
And we could use the opportunity to clarify a few other issues: How can it be, for example, that you can easily be paid 100 euros an hour for a craft service in a car repair shop, while as a stonemason you have to be happy if you get just under half of that? Why do tilers lay square kilometers of natural stone at completely different prices, even though they are officially paid the same minimum wage? And why has the partially-elected federal government taken so long to implement the minimum wage, when everything has been laid down in collective agreements since mid-2012?
Side views from STEIN in November.