The collective agreement for around 2.5 million federal and local employees expires at the end of the year. The unions are entering the upcoming negotiations with a demand for eight percent more salaries.
The ver.di union and the civil service association dbb are demanding eight percent more income for federal and local public sector employees – but at least 350 euros per month. This is the central demand for the upcoming collective bargaining, as the unions announced.
The demands are ambitious, but by no means too high, said dbb boss Ulrich Silberbach. There is a shortage of half a million people in the public sector. There is a risk of being “smeared out” compared to the private sector.
Demanded more days off
Other demands include three additional days off for everyone and another day off for union members. Employees should be able to use a working time account to decide whether they want to be paid overtime or whether it should be booked into the account. According to the unions, trainees should receive 200 euros more per month.
Around 2.5 million collective bargaining employees are affected, the majority of whom work in municipalities. Negotiations are held separately for state employees. With their demands, ver.di and dbb are slightly higher than the demands for the wage round in the metal and electrical industries. IG Metall had demanded seven percent more money.
Inflation rate as “Orientation sizeße”
The employers’ side is represented in the collective bargaining by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser for the federal government and the Association of Municipal Employers’ Associations (VKA). VKA President Karin Welge told the Tagesspiegel: “Inflation will be around two percent, that is a benchmark that is on the table.” She also referred to the strained municipal budgets.
The current collective agreement expires after two years at the end of the year. In the negotiations over the collective agreement that is now expiring, the unions achieved the largest wage increase in the public sector in decades in spring 2023. This was intended to cushion the drastic rise in consumer and energy prices at the time.
Economists: “Sporty” and “robust” demand
In their initial reactions, economists called the demands “sporty” and “robust”. In fact, “competitive pay” is necessary to make public service more attractive, said Thomas Gitzel, chief economist at VP Bank. He predicted a significant increase in wages. “However, it will not be eight percent. The weak economic situation and the resulting lower tax revenues do not reflect the latter.”
Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank, said the demand was “very robust” and added: “This is understandable since currency devaluation is still in the bones of many private households. If you make a four-year comparison, for example, Prices today are almost 20 percent higher than at the end of 2020.”