After metalworkers' union IG Metall fought for improvements in the treatment of temporary workers and more assistance for trainees in the last bargaining round, the union's main focus in the new round beginning in May 2013 will be on money. Also public service union Ver.di’s recipe against the erosion of society is that wages have to go up, and by a significant amount. In the current collective bargaining round, Ver.di is calling for a 6.5% pay increase - the highest in years - for public sector employees. The economy got through the euro crisis in much better shape than almost all of its neighbours. Employment, at more than 41 million, is at the highest level ever recorded, and many companies have recently reported record profits. Nevertheless, most employees have less disposable income, when adjusted for inflation, than they did 10 years ago.
English: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-trade-unions-demanding ...
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.