Germany: steel sector set for 4% wage increase

The 72,000 steel sector workers based in North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Bremen will soon enjoy a wage increase. In the early hours of the morning on 17 March, at the end of a final marathon negotiation session lasting 10 hours, social partners reached an agreement in Dusseldorf on a two-stage salary increase of 4%. The agreement will be binding for 22 months, expiring on 31 December 2018, and comes after a series of warning strikes from the IG Metall union. Existing agreements governing part-time retirement and contracts for the provision of services have been renewed until December 2018.
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A 4% raise over 22 months. Steel sector workers in the north of Germany, where the majority of steel companies in the country are based, will see their salaries increase by 2.3% as of 1 April 2017 and then by 1.7% as of 1 May 2018. Wages will remain unchanged in the month of March. This collective agreement will be binding for 22 months, compared to 12 months for the previous deal (see article n°9391). The 4% increase will also apply to apprentices in their fourth year of training. Knut Giesler

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