Germany: 8.5% pay rise and €3,000 “anti-inflation” bonus in metal sector

The social partners in the metal industry of the German state of Baden-Württemberg have struck an agreement on a two-part wage increase of 8.5% and a one-off tax-free bonus of €3,000, to take account of an inflation rate of over 10%. The agreement, reached on Thursday night, will apply over a period of 24 months and has scope for flexibility for struggling companies. Since this agreement is considered to be a "pilot" agreement, ordinarily it would be replicated across the whole country, thereby applying to 3.9 million employees in the sector.
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Following several weeks marked by warning strikes involving some 900,000 employees, the social partners in the metal industry of the German state of Baden-Württemberg – the IG Metall union and the Südwestmetall employer federation – announced in the early morning of Friday 18 November a “pilot” agreement that should satisfy the 3.9 million employees in the sector. Agreed for a period of 24 months, from October 2022 to the end of September 2024, the overall wage increase will be 8.5%, with an ad

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