Removing the possibility of an unlimited strike, the IG-Metall union and the steel employers’ organization (Arbeitgeberverband Stahl e.V) agreed, on the morning of Tuesday, July 8 in Gelsenkirchen, on a 4-percent wage increase divided in 2 for the 75,000 steelworkers in North Rhine-Westphalia, Low-Saxony and Bremen. Signed for 17 months, the deal will expire on October 31, 2015. The key novelty is that, in additional to the deal on pay, the social partners also signed a collective agreement to protect workers from service provision firms (Werkverträge). In the future, these companies will have to comply with the minimum requirements included in their sector’s collective agreement as regards pay, working time and prevention measures. It’s the first time the IG-Metall signed such a deal for an entire sector.
4-percent raise over 17 months. After 4 bargaining rounds, warning strikes and the threat of an open-ended strike, the IG-Metall and the steel employers’ organization put an end to their conflict and adopted several collective agreements covering the 75,000 steelworkers in northwestern Germany – North Rhine-Westphalia, Low-Saxony and Bremen. These agreements should serve as references for the coming negotiations in other regions with steel businesses: Saarland, Berlin and the new Länder....
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