comment by
Benedict Peters
It was in autumn when the feeling began to set in that trade unions and employers would be able to master the crisis well. High energy prices and galloping inflation had created a climate that could have been explosive, and which in fact wasn’t explosive. Instead, the collective bargaining parties sat down at a table and constructively negotiated very good wage agreements – for example in the chemical and metal industries. They were very good because, on the one hand, they protected employees from inflation and, on the other hand, they did not overwhelm the companies, which also had their concerns (production costs, feared gas shortages).