Germany: new pilot collective agreement in Bavaria dismisses threat of open strike in the metal industry

Putting an end to a conflict punctuated with major warning strikes, the powerful Bavarian federation of the IG-Metall union and the Gesamtmetall employers’ organization reached, early this Wednesday morning, a collective agreement for the approximately 700,000 people working in the metal and electronics sectors in Bavaria.  The agreement should be extended to all regions and therefore apply to the sector’s 3.7 million employees in Germany.  It provides for a two-tier wage increase: 3.4% on July 1, 2013 and 2.2% on May 1, 2014.  Employers rejoiced with the duration of the agreement (20 months) and the IG Metall with the high amount of the wage increase secured (5.6%).  (Ref.  130320)
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Bavaria is once again a pilot region. Carried out at local level, collective bargaining in the metal industry traditionally ends when an agreement is signed in Baden-Württemberg or North Rhine-Westphalia. But this year, Bavaria became the pilot region, which makes employers very happy. “With this pilot agreement, Bavaria comes back to its predominant role in collective negotiations – because of the strength of its metal and electronics industry” said Gesamtmetall leader Rainer Dulger. ...

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