Presented in the evening of 12 July, the wage agreement that applies to some 200,000 banking sector employees (public and private banks) is doubtlessly the least generous of the major wage agreements struck in 2016. In this agreement a 3.7% increase in salaries will be spread over a total of 33 months until October 2019. For the services union Verdi, it is only down to several warning strikes that even this percentage raise was secured. For the employers the percentage increase was only possible because it is to be spread over a very long period of time. Banking sector employers hold that following the years of financial crisis, as well as an increase in European banking regulations and legislation, and not to speak of the uncertainty reigning post Brexit, their sector is currently undergoing a period of crisis.
A hard-fought agreement. “Employers constantly argue that their sector is under threat and they paint a somber picture as to its future. Agreement can only come about after considerable effort from both sides…Inflation will really have to remain low for workers to experience a real wage rise,” explained Christoph Meister, union negotiator and member of Verdi’s Federal bureau.
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