Germany: Successful negotiations led to a new wage agreement
Published:
On 17 February 2017, Federal states’ education personnel and other public services employees reached a new wage agreement. The agreement followed the series of warning strikes in the public sector called in the previous three weeks around the country and supported, among others, by ETUCE member organisations in Germany, GEW and VBE.
The most pressing issue for German education personnel was the establishment of a sixth pay grade for the salary groups 9 to 15 that will be reached after 15 years of services. This pay grade represents extra 3% of public services employees’ salary. According to GEW and VBE, the negotiation process led to the successful creation of the additional pay grade. Among other positive news in relation to talks on public services employees’, including education personnel’s, working conditions, a wage increase of 2% which is expected from 1 January 2017. Another increase in salaries of 2,35% will enter into force in January 2018. Additionally, social partners negotiated a monthly allowance of 80 € for early childhood educators to compensate the pay gap persisted in similar jobs in the German municipalities.
VBE and GEW reported that the agreement directly applies on approximately one million employees, among them 200,000 teachers working in public schools. The remuneration of 1,16 million civil servants of the Bundesländer, among them 600,000 teachers, is determined by the German law, however the collective agreement reached for the public services employees serves as a guideline to that effect.
The VBE’s Vice President in charge of wage policy, Jens Weichelt, underlined: “The introduction of the sixth pay grade particularly shows the recognition of the work performed by late-career employees”.
The GEW President Marlis Tepe said: “Hence, we have had success in all areas that we wanted to reach improvements in. This is remarkable with a view to the complex starting position!”
For more information, please visit www.gew.de/troed2017 and www.vbe.de