IG Metall Union Reaches Deal in Baden-Wuerttemberg

   By Monica Houston-Waesch 
 

FRANKFURT--Metalworkers' union IG Metall has reached a compromise deal with employers in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg over demands for higher wages, flexible retirement and educational leave, a deal that could serve as a precedent for other regions.

Around 800,000 workers in the region will receive a 3.4% wage increase as well as a one-off payment of 150 euros ($170) from April 1, in an agreement that will run until March 31, 2016, IG Metal Baden-Wuerttemberg said in a statement. The union had demanded 5.5% increase in wages. IG Metall regional chief Roman Zitzelsberger called the deal a "satisfactory compromise."

"With this we are also ensuring that private consumption, the most important economic driver right now, will stay on course," he said.

Earlier in the day, the German statistics office said that domestic demand contributed 0.5 percentage points to the country's economic growth in the final quarter of 2014, which was up 0.7% from the previous quarter.

The union also secured continued flexibility on retirement for up to 4% of the workforce, and financial subsidies for employees' further education.

In late January, the employers' association Gesamtmetall offered a 2.2% wage increase and part-time work for retirees for a maximum 2% of the workforce, sparking a fresh wave of warning strikes at companies such as Daimler AG (DAI.XE), Audi and MTU Aero Engines AG (MTX.XE).

Write to Monica Houston-Waesch at [e-mail]

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