On 1 December 2025, the wages of 3,000 employees will be fully aligned with the highest nationwide wage level in Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein. With three increases in 2025, the standard wage will rise by €195, or 5.1%, to nearly €4,000 – the starting wage for skilled workers with a 38-hour week. The East German bread industry is taking this step forward. Following wage equalization, negotiations are now underway for a new collective agreement to improve bonuses, special leave, and other working conditions. The goal is to eliminate the remaining East-West wage gaps and make the industry more attractive overall. The bread industry in eastern Germany employs over 2,500 people covered by the collective agreement.
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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.