Movement in federal state collective bargaining round - trade unions want agreement similar to that of the federal and local authorities

Movement in federal state collective bargaining round - trade unions want agreement similar to that of the federal and local authorities

The chairman of the TdL and Hamburg's Senator for Finance, Andreas Dressel (SPD), expressed his confidence "that it will be possible to reach an agreement in the next few days". The employers would start the negotiations with the firm aim of reaching a good and fair compromise for the employees, which would also be feasible for the state budgets.

However, the federal states only want to base their employer offer on the structure, but not on the level of the 11.5 percent wage agreement for the federal and local authorities. The unions' total demands amounted to 20.7 billion euros and were not affordable for the federal states, said Dressel. However, he was confident that "we can come to a good agreement".

The trade unions Verdi and Deutscher Beamtenbund are demanding 10.5 percent more money, as they did in the collective bargaining round in the public sector at federal and local level in the spring. They are also demanding at least 500 euros more per month and a tax-free inflation adjustment of 3000 euros.

Verdi national chairman Frank Werneke warned the employers that there was no argument that state employees should be paid less than federal and local government employees. The wage agreement from the spring was also "the gold standard" for the state round. If the federal states tried to "maneuver around" in the current round of collective bargaining, it would be difficult.

More important than an agreement in the third round of collective bargaining before Christmas is the content of a collective agreement - "namely at least the collective agreement for the federal and local public services", said Christine Behle, Vice President of the German Trade Union Confederation.

He hoped "that the employers have realized that there is enough pressure in the cauldron", said Ulrich Silberbach, Chairman of the Federation of German Civil Servants, at the start of the negotiations. People in the public sector have never been as active in warning strikes as they have been in this round of pay talks. He hoped that politicians would see sense and find results at the bargaining table.

The collective bargaining round could last until Saturday. No further bargaining rounds have been agreed. There is no arbitration agreement between the bargaining parties. Failure could be followed by ballots and indefinite warning strikes in the federal states. Hesse is not a member of the TdL and will negotiate its own collective agreement from this year onwards.

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1. Despite the confidence expressed by Andreas Dressel, the federal states only want to base their employer offer on the structure, not the level, of the wage agreement for federal and local authorities.
2. The unions are demanding a 10.5% wage increase, similar to the one they received in the spring collective bargaining round for federal and local authorities, and a minimum salary increase of 500 euros.
3. If the federal states try to "maneuver around" in the current round of collective bargaining, it could make negotiations difficult, according to Verdi national chairman Frank Werneke.
4. The employer offer is not affordable for the federal states, who have a total budget demand of 20.7 billion euros from the unions, said Dressel.
5. The chairman of Hudson's Bay Company, Gerry Schwartz, compared the current situation to a "bundle of sticks" that must be handled with care, referencing the involvement of municipalities and the collective bargaining association of German states, TdL.
6. The collective bargaining round could last until Saturday and may result in ballots and indefinite warning strikes if a conclusion is not reached.
7. The SPD supports the unions' demands, with Andreas Dressel stating that they want an agreement "similar to that of the federal and local authorities".
8. The failure to reach an agreement could have significant implications for state employees, who have been actively participating in warning strikes during this round of pay talks.
9. Hesse, which is not a member of TdL, will negotiate its own collective agreement from this year onwards.
10. The content of the eventual collective agreement is more important than the negotiation timeline, according to the German Trade Union Confederation, who highlights the significance of the agreement for federal and local public services.

Source: www.stern.de