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4 August, 2005ICEM news release No. 23/2000
A 4.2 percent wage increase over two years has been secured for 580,000 chemical workers and 50,000 paper workers in western Germany under collective agreements concluded this week.
In both cases, pay will go up by 2.2 percent this year and 2 percent in 2001. The precise dates of application vary by region and by sector.
The agreements for both industries also emphasise job creation measures, notably a further increase in apprenticeships for young job-seekers. Retirement provisions for older workers are improved, as are the possibilities for taking early retirement on what in many cases adds up to almost the same net income as for those in work.
The agreements have been negotiated by the mining, chemical and energy workers' union IG BCE, which at the global level is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM).
By and large, German collective agreements cover all employees within a given industry, regardless of their trade and their job category. In the chemical sector, this principle has come under pressure in recent years due to the current managerial fashion for hiving off activities considered "non-core". German chemical firms' logistics and staff canteens have been particularly subject to this trend.
IG BCE is keen to uphold the principle that all employees within the chemical industry are covered by the union's agreements and the union's protection. In cases such as logistics and canteens, it has therefore agreed to devolve more bargaining to the enterprise or workplace level.
German collective agreements are negotiated regionally industry-by-industry, but with leeway for some variations at the enterprise level. In practice, the same main conditions are usually agreed for all western German states within a given sector. Eastern German states have separate bargaining arrangements. Their pay and conditions are gradually being brought up to the level of those in the western part of the country.
In both cases, pay will go up by 2.2 percent this year and 2 percent in 2001. The precise dates of application vary by region and by sector.
The agreements for both industries also emphasise job creation measures, notably a further increase in apprenticeships for young job-seekers. Retirement provisions for older workers are improved, as are the possibilities for taking early retirement on what in many cases adds up to almost the same net income as for those in work.
The agreements have been negotiated by the mining, chemical and energy workers' union IG BCE, which at the global level is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM).
By and large, German collective agreements cover all employees within a given industry, regardless of their trade and their job category. In the chemical sector, this principle has come under pressure in recent years due to the current managerial fashion for hiving off activities considered "non-core". German chemical firms' logistics and staff canteens have been particularly subject to this trend.
IG BCE is keen to uphold the principle that all employees within the chemical industry are covered by the union's agreements and the union's protection. In cases such as logistics and canteens, it has therefore agreed to devolve more bargaining to the enterprise or workplace level.
German collective agreements are negotiated regionally industry-by-industry, but with leeway for some variations at the enterprise level. In practice, the same main conditions are usually agreed for all western German states within a given sector. Eastern German states have separate bargaining arrangements. Their pay and conditions are gradually being brought up to the level of those in the western part of the country.