8 September, 2010IMF affiliate IG Metall demands six per cent increase in wages for the steel industry, together with equal payment for all workers employed by the steel companies and labour agencies.
GERMANY: After expiry of the current agreement on August 31, negotiations with the steel industry employers started on September 6, 2010 in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, where IMF affiliate IG Metall put forward demands for a six per cent wage increase for 85,000 workers employed in the sector.
Setting a new benchmark in the negotiations, the union also wants the wages negotiated within the new agreement to cover all workers employed directly by the companies and indirectly through the labour agencies. The move will secure equal treatment to approximately 3,000 casual employees in the steel industry and prevent companies from using labour brokers to economise on workers' wages.
In addition, considering the demographic situation in the country, IG Metall recommends the new agreement reduces working time for senior employees aged 60 and more.
The union believes the demands are realistic since the sector over last three months operates with 2.2 per cent higher output in comparison to previous year, clearly leaving downturn times of the economic crisis behind.
Earlier, during the two years prior to the crisis, IG Metall managed to bargain a 5.2 per cent increase for its members in the steel industry, followed by frozen wages in 2009 and a moderate two per cent increase in 2010. Now with the industry showing clear signs of recovery the union believes workers deserve an increase in their earnings.
The employers declared the industry so far does not operate at the level of pre-crisis times and argue the temporary workers are covered by their own collective agreements.
IG Metall is preparing to back their demands with industrial actions.