Collectively agreed wages rose by an average of 1.7% in 2021 compared to the previous year. This is the result of the preliminary annual overview of the collective bargaining archive of the Economic and Social Science Institute (WSI) of the Hans Bockler Foundation. In view of the expected increase in consumer prices of 3.1% for the full year of 2021, this would result in an unusually strong real wage loss of 1.4%. However, in many collective agreements, the loss of purchasing power is mitigated by a tax-free ‘corona premium’. Individual wage development is therefore likely to be more positive for many employees than the average value shows. Overall, lower-income groups in particular benefit from the corona premiums.
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For more information, please contact Paul de Beer or Oana Ciuca, De Burcht (Scientific Bureau for the Dutch Trade Union Movement) p.t.debeer@uva.nl or the Head of communications at the ETUI, Mehmet Koksal mkoksal@etui.org. For previous full issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit https://www.etui.org/Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter or consult the archive with all articles in our database at www.cbnarchive.eu.
You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org.