IG Metall says it has reached agreement with an employers body in South West Germany, which will see 900,000 formerly striking workers return to their factories after the labour body agreed to a 4.3% pay rise.
Germany has been wracked by waves of strikes in the past few weeks in the metalworking and electrical industries as unions sought significantly improved wage increases and holiday benefits, although the new deal falls short of the original 6% wage claim.
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The dispute has seen a combination of what IG Metall refers to as “warning strikes” of a few hours, coupled with 24h walkouts, involving up to 1.5m workers, with the automotive sector particularly targetted.
It has yet to be confirmed if the deal struck by IG Metall with employer body, Südwestmetall, will spread to the rest of Germany, but its broad acceptance by such a swath of employees bodes well for a nationwide accord.
“The collective agreement is a milestone on the way to a modern, self-determined working world,” said chairman, Jörg Hofmann through a basic translation service after marathon negotiations in Stuttgart.
IG Metall set itself several goals for the collective bargaining round: a fair share of employees in the economic success of the industry; more self-determination in working hours; better compatibility of family and work for all and relief in shift-work. “We have achieved these goals,” added Hofmann.
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By GlobalDataThe agreement will see salaries rise by 4.3% from 1 April this year and a one-off payment of EUR100 (US$124) for the January to March, 2018 period.
In addition, all employees will receive a fixed amount of EUR400 from next year, plus a collectively agreed supplement of 27.5% of monthly salary.
Employees who raise children, care for relatives or work in shifts can choose whether to take eight days off instead of the agreed additional allowance. Two days are funded by the employer.
The collective agreement also guarantees employees the right to reduce their working hours to up to 28 hours for up to 24 months. After that, they have the right to return to their original working hours.
The collective agreement runs until 31 March, 2020.
“Employees receive a significant increase in their real incomes, which reflects the excellent economic situation of the industry and has a positive macroeconomic effect: the significant increase in incomes strengthens domestic demand and contributes to further stabilising the economy”, noted the IG Metal chairman.
Despite not achieving the full 6% deal, the agreement nonetheless represents a significant improvement on the 2.6% IG Metall said its members were previously offered, while it and the Gesamtmetall union will recommend to its colleagues in the East German States, to hold talks on settling the issue.
“We have achieved essential negotiation goals and created an innovative working time world,” said Südwestmetall chairman, Stefan Wolf after the 13h talks concluded in Stuttgart.
“The complexity of the result and the amount of pay settlements however, are a mortgage, which are difficult for many companies to carry. It was therefore immensely important we could achieve a permanent differentiation option for such companies. “
“We will evaluate these new regulations very precisely in two years time, how they prove themselves in operational practice and whether they are even manageable for companies.”
