Germany: 2011/2012 collective bargaining schedule

2010 negotiations end with a controversy on equal pay.  Will the agreement signed in the steel industry – introducing equal pay between permanent  and temporary workers, as well as a 3.6% increase – serve as a pilot and be reused?  To answer this question, we’re going to have to wait until at least the end of January 2011, when collective negotiations open at Volkswagen. In any case, the agreement on equal pay caused a controversy that isn’t about to fade away.  Indeed, German unions opened fire on the fast development of temporary jobs in the German industry and don’t intend to stop with this agreement.  On the other side, interim federations and powerful metal employers (metal, automotive, machine toll) are “energetically” rejecting an agreement which is “fundamentally not repeatable” and only possible in the steel industry where personnel costs are low, said Martin Kannegiesser, leader of the Gesamtmetall employers’ organization.  However, they’ll have time to wait and see since the metal collective agreement, the most important in Germany since it affects 3,236,000 employees in the “leading sectors” of the German economy, will expire on March 31, 2012.
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pment of temporary jobs in the German industry and don’t intend to stop with this agreement. On the other side, interim federations and powerful metal employers (metal, automotive, machine toll) are “energetically” rejecting an agreement which is “fundamentally not repeatable” and only possible in the steel industry where personnel costs are low, said Martin Kannegiesser, leader of the Gesamtmetall employers’ organization. However, they’ll have time to wait and see since the metal collective

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