German metalworkers to get 2011 increases early

Some 670,000 German metal and electronics workers to get 2011 pay rises early, reports IG Metall.

GERMANY: In a sign that the economic crisis has waned, at least in Germany, IG Metall reported that companies employing 20 per cent of some total 3.4 million metal and electronics workers in the country to date have moved the scheduled 2011 wage increase up from April to February. Companies and their Works Councils including Audi AG, Bosch GmbH, Siemens, and Voith, the paper machine and engineering manufacturer, have agreed to pay the scheduled 2.7 per cent increase in February.

Several more companies are expected to do the same in the coming weeks. The union said some 670,000 workers are now on schedule to get the raise in February. In collective agreements negotiated in February 2010, IG Metall agreed to a historic job preservation pact in exchange for two lump sum payments of €320 each in 2010 and early 2011.

The 2011 percentage increase was scheduled for April 2011, but according to the agreement Works Councils were given the authority to negotiate the 2.7 per cent sum effective two months prior to April 2011, but no later than two months after that date. The 25-month agreement last year also mandates that there will be no operational redundancies before 30 June 2012.

IG Metall credits the early raises to a strong economic recovery in the country.

Additionally, Siemens, in appreciation to its global workforce of 400,000 for exemplary performance throughout the crisis, announced earlier in November that it would grant a total of US$430 million in a "one-time special bonus." The pay-out, to be made between December and January, will amount to about €1,000 per worker, with German workers getting the bonus in January and the 2.7 per cent increase the next month.