BERLIN (MNI) – Germany’s powerful Verdi trade union and other
smaller public sector unions announced Tuesday that they will enter the
upcoming wage round for some 585,000 public sector employees of the
country’s regional states with a demand equivalent to an average pay
rise of 5%.
In detail, the unions want all monthly wages to be increased by E50
and then to be raised by another 3%. In total, this adds up to an
average rise of 5%, said Verdi leader Frank Bsirske.
The unions are aiming for a contract duration of 14 months. The
current pay contract expires December 31.
Besides the 585,000 state employees, the unions want to extend the
eventual pay deal to some 1.1 million special state functionaries
(Beamte).
Verdi estimates that an average 5% pay rise for 585,000 state
employees would cost state governments around E1.16 billion per year and
for the 1.1 million Beamte some E2.46 billion.
Wage talks will kick off on February 4 in Potsdam near Berlin. If
need be, further talks are to take place February 9 and March 10.
Last March the unions and public sector employers agreed on a
26-month pay accord for around 2.1 million employees on the federal and
local level.
Under the deal, some 170,000 federal employees and around 1.9
million employees of local governments and companies in which local
governments have a majority stake got a retroactive pay rise of 1.2%
from January 1, 2010, and will get a further 0.6% from January 1, 2011,
and another 0.5% hike from August 1, 2011. Moreover, the employees will
receive an one-off payment of E240 in January 2011.
The deal will cost the federal government E105 million this year
and another E70 million next year. Local governments and companies in
which they have a majority stake will pay some E1.1 billion this year
and around E1.3 billion next year.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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