5 April, 2010
The first round of collective negotiations in the German chemicals and pharmaceutical industries proved futile, with the employers’ BAVC Chemical Industry Association infuriating ICEM affiliate IGBCE and its 550,000 chemical workers by citing the economic crisis as the reason for not offering pay rises.
Bargaining at the different state levels broke off the week of 22 March. The second round of talks will take place now at the federal level in Würzburg, Germany, on 20-21 April. Contracts for workers at some 1,900 companies expired on 31 March in some states, and expire in other German states on 30 April.
At a press conference at IGBCE headquarters in Hannover on 31 March, the union made it clear that a wage increase is in order because the country’s chemicals industry has weathered the crisis, with a substantive upswing realized in the second half of 2009.
Much of that can be attributed to sacrifices of workers in helping their companies cope with the crisis, including shortened work hours at reduced pay. Also in 2009, some 130,000 workers at 347 companies did not take scheduled pay increases because of the crisis.
The union also cites job security as paramount in this round of negotiations.
Peter Hausmann
Peter Hausmann, IGBCE Governing Board member, who heads the union’s Collective Bargaining Department, said employers in the opening round of talks completely missed the union’s initiatives to continue strengthening the industry. IGBCE stressed that job and skills retention and avoiding compulsory redundancies is essential for competitiveness. The union also proposes to continue to create training opportunities for young workers.
Hausmann said the employers’ response to the dedication made by German chemical workers during the economic crisis was one of ridicule, as well as ignoring the sacrifices that were made. “It was a completely absurd assessment of the economic situation,” said Hausmann, adding such posturing is not conducive to productive social dialogue.
The IGBCE maintains that recovery in Germany’s chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors in 2009 and a bright forecast in 2010 means these industries are better positioned for immediate wage growth than other industries to resuscitate the economy. The BAVC, almost assuredly, is using February’s early settlement in the German metals and electronics sectors as a blueprint for all industries. In that, IF Metall deferred a wage increase until spring 2011.
IGBCE is calling on the BAVC to return to bargaining by meeting the union’s call for further negotiated training positions to assure future competiveness. Through novel negotiating between the two parties, life-long opportunities for young workers to take skilled jobs in chemicals and pharmaceuticals increased by 9.4% between 2003 and 2008. But between 2008 and 2009, those opportunities decreased, largely due to the crisis.
IGBCE is willing to take a 12-month contract in the upcoming Würzburg talks. Traditionally, the union and BAVC have negotiated two-year agreements.