In July 2011, the Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI) presented its interim report on collective bargaining. The study evaluates the collective agreements concluded by trade unions affiliated with the DGB in the first half of 2011, affecting about 25% of all employees covered by such agreements. Calculated on an annual basis, the average nominal increase in wages and salaries will be around 2% in 2011, slightly above the average of 1.7% for 2010. This rise reflects the improvement in the economy. However, as prices in 2011 seem to be increasing more than predicted, employees in some industries might not enjoy real wage increases. On the other hand, data provided by the Federal Statistical Agency indicates that effective gross wages might increase more than collectively agreed wages. The average increase in eastern German pay levels is estimated to be about 2.2%, thereby bringing the 2011 increases above the western German level.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2011/07/articles/de1107019i.htm
German: http://www.boeckler.de/pdf/p_ta_hjb_2011.pdf
This article was published in the Collective Bargaining Newsletter. It aims to facilitate information exchange between trade unions and to support the work of ETUC's collective bargaining committee. For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2011.