Ver.di says arbitration proposals would mean further cut in real pay for workers - further strike action likely
(28 March 2008) After five rounds of negotiations unions and employers agreed earlier this month to appoint an arbitration committee to come up with proposals to help resolve their differences. Ver.di’s demand was for an increase of 8% over two years while the employers had made little change to their offer of a 5% increase but with longer working hours.
The arbitration proposals were announced today (27 March) and ver.di leader Frank Bsirske described them as unacceptable and too close to the employers’ position. The arbitrator has proposed a 4% increase from 1 April 2008 and a further 2% in January 2009. Low- and medium paid workers would get a €450 lump sum this year, while the same amount would also be paid to all workers next year. This package was described as being the equivalent of 8%.
Ver.di responded by saying that, taking account of longer hours, the proposal was worth only 5.4%. The arbitrator has proposed a 38.5-hour working week in the West while leaving the working week in the East at 40 hours. This would mean a 30-minute increase for workers employed by the federal government and as much as a one-hour increase for local government workers depending on where they work.
Ver.di’s collective bargaining committee will convene tomorrow (Friday 28 March) and the negotiations are due to resume on Saturday (29 March). Bsirske says the committee is unlikely to support the abitration proposals and if the employers insist on them then it is likely that widespread strike action will begin from 12 April.
Reports on the pay negotiations can be found on the main ver.di website and its "strike TV" website.
For previous information on collective bargaining in Germany
http://www.epsu.org/r/175
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