Agreement reached on salaries of public servants in Germany

In the fourth round of negotiations, an agreement was reached, accompanied by massive warning strikes, on wage increases for 2.5 million public workers in Germany.

In the statement issued by the Union of the United Services Industry (Ver.di) and the Union of Public Servants (dbb), one of the largest unions in Germany, it was indicated that the third round of negotiations, which lasted three days , on raising wages for unionized employers and employees in the public sector, failed.

In the statement, it was indicated that in the fourth round an agreement was reached with the federal government on a single payment of 3,000 euros to public employees and an increase in wages by 5.5 percent.

220 EUROS PER MONTH WILL BE PAID UNTIL FEBRUARY 2024

The first part of 3,000 euros will be paid as 1,240 euros in June and the rest will be paid as 220 euros per month until February 2024.

In addition, salaries will be increased by 200 euros as a first measure from March 2024.

As a second step, there will be a 5.5 percent wage increase and a minimum increase of 340 euros per month will be guaranteed. The agreement will expire at the end of 2024.

The German Federal Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, in her assessment on the issue, said: “We tried to meet the demands of the unions to the extent that we could take responsibility, according to the convincing budget.” she used the phrase.

Ver.di president Frank Werneke also claimed that the reconciliation decision is “closer to the pain threshold”, stressing that regular salary increases next year will mean an increase of more than 11 percent for the vast majority. of federal and municipal government employees.

AT LEAST A 500 EUROS INCREASE WAS REQUIRED

Ver.di was demanding a salary increase of 10.5 percent, or at least 500 euros, for employees in response to the effects of unusually high inflation in Germany.

The Ver.di union had organized strikes in recent months to meet their demands. Following the call by Ver.di and the Union of Railway Workers (EVG) on March 27, the largest 24-hour transport strike in the last 31 years took place in Germany, and most of the plane, train and bus came to a stop.

The agreement in question came after the parties failed to reach an agreement in the third round of negotiations, and the parties went to arbitration and the mediators began to seek solutions for salary increases. (AA)