Germany: steel industry agrees 6.5% salary increase

On 15 June, Germany’s steel industry social partners signed a new collective agreement spanning 18 months until 30 November 2023, and covering employees working in North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, and Bremen. These workers will receive a 6.5% pay rise from 01 August 2022, as well as a lumpsum €500 payment for the months of June and July (apprentices will receive €200). This is the “highest percentage salary increase in the steel industry for 30 years,” said Jörg Hofmann, president of the IG Metall union, saying that the result “appropriately” reflects the robust economic health of the vast majority of companies in the sector. This wage increase should, he said, help to offset the effects of the sharp rise in prices: employees will have “significantly more money in their wallets now and going forward.” The steel employers’ association Stahl, for its part, described the agreement as “just about acceptable”, and one which was negotiated at “great effort”. “If the risks looming over the German economy do materialize and hit (our companies) hard, then the social partners will have to find solutions,” warned Heinz Jörg Fuhrmann, president of the employers’ association.