30 September, 2010IMF German affiliate, IG Metall recommends members accept a new agreement for a 3.6 per cent pay rise and equal pay for contract workers after negotiations with employers in the steel sector. The agreement reached on September 29 came after the union staged three days of warning strikes.
GERMANY: A 3.6 per cent wage increase from October 1 for 13 months, equality between contract and permanent workers, and one-off payments for September for 85,000 steel workers in North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Bremen are the results announced on September 29 of the negotiations between IG Metall and employers in the steel sector.
Just before the start of negotiations 700 steel workers went to Dusseldorf where they made their demands known by holding an imaginative rally in front of the hotel where the negotiations where taking place.
After a period of conservative pay demands, reflecting concerns about job security during Germany's sharpest post-war recession, the recent signs of recovery have emboldened unions to push for increases and steel workers are leading the charge.
IG Metall president and IMF president, Berthold Huber, evaluated the collective results in the northwestern German steel industry positively. "This result is fair and equitable," he said.
The main companies included in the agreement are ThyssenKrupp, Salzgitter and ArcelorMittal. The agreement includes:
More money: The wages and salaries increase by 3.6 per cent from October 1, 2010 for 13 months. All workers will receive a one-off payment of €150 for September 2010. The salaries for apprentices will increase by €40 from now until October 31, 2011.
Fair hiring: Contract workers in all enterprises in the steel industry will receive the same money as the permanent staff from January 1, 2011 for a period of two years. If the agency supplying the labour does not pay the worker to an equal level, the steel company is liable to the employee.
IG Metall is recommending that its members accept this agreement, which will be considered by the membership on October 12, 2010.