German government agrees to 4.75% wage increase for public sector workers
More than 2m public sector workers in Germany will see their wages rise by 4.75% over two years after unions staged several public sector strikes which last week grounded hundreds of flights.
Interior minister Thomas de Maizière, who was leading the negotiations on behalf of the government, yesterday announced the increase, which will be paid in two stages: 2.4% this year and 2.35% in February 2017.
Verdi, one of Germany’s biggest and most influential unions representing 2m public sector workers, which had initially demanded a 6% pay rise, hailed the result as “a compromise that clearly increases salaries, boosts purchasing power and helps make the public sector more attractive” to workers.
On Wednesday, walkouts by Verdi members forced the cancellation of more than 1,200 flights in and out of the country’s main airports, with flag carrier Lufthansa among the hardest hit.
The union had also recently organised work stoppages in hospitals, town halls and child care centres.
Yesterday’s agreement brings the bargaining process, which started in March, to an end.
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About Winnie Agbonlahor
Winnie is news editor of Global Government Forum. She previously reported for Civil Service World - the trade magazine for senior UK government officials. Originally from Germany, Winnie first came to the UK in 2006 to study a BA in Journalism & Russian at the University of Sheffield. She is bilingual in English and German, and, after spending an academic year abroad in Russia and reporting for the Moscow Times, Winnie also speaks Russian fluently.
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