{"id":49,"date":"2018-03-14T01:49:21","date_gmt":"2018-03-14T01:49:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/populareducation.in\/loksamvad\/?post_type=article&p=49"},"modified":"2018-03-14T01:49:21","modified_gmt":"2018-03-14T01:49:21","slug":"german-union-wins-right-to-28-hour-working-week-and-4-3-pay-rise","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"http:\/\/populareducation.in\/loksamvad\/article\/german-union-wins-right-to-28-hour-working-week-and-4-3-pay-rise\/","title":{"rendered":"German union wins right to 28-hour working week and 4.3% pay rise"},"content":{"rendered":"FT, FEBRUARY 6, 2018<\/strong>\r\n\r\nGerman workers won a key victory in their fight for a better work-life balance when a big employers\u2019 group agreed to demands from the country\u2019s largest trade union for the introduction of a 28-hour working week.\r\n\r\nThe agreement between IG Metall, which represents a wide swath of industrial workers, and the S\u00fcdwestmetall employers\u2019 federation, shows how unions in Germany, that for years have been a model of wage restraint, are flexing their muscles in ways more typical of organised labour in France, home of the 35-hour working week.\r\n\r\nIt also comes with Germany in the midst of its longest postwar stretch without a government and Angela Merkel struggling through her fifth month of coalition negotiations, raising questions about whether a country that once lectured Europe on economic and political stability is suddenly losing its way.\r\n\r\nThe labour agreement is a product of Germany\u2019s economic boom, which has given unions an unusually strong hand in collective bargaining talks this year. Last year, the economy grew at its fastest rate since 2011 and unemployment is at its lowest since reunification in 1990.\r\n\r\nStefan Wolf, S\u00fcdwestmetall\u2019s chief negotiator, warned that the agreement was a \u201cburden, which will be hard to bear for many firms\u201d.\r\n\r\nThe wage settlement was reached in the early hours of Tuesday after six rounds of often bruising talks and a series of 24-hour strikes.\r\n\r\nThe two-year deal covers 900,000 workers in the metals and electrical industries in Baden- W\u00fcrttemberg, home to several of Germany\u2019s most high-profile industrial groups, including Daimler, the carmaker, and Bosch.\r\n\r\nBut IG Metall\u2019s agreements tend to be seen as benchmarks for the whole of German industry, and it is now expected to be rolled out in other sectors.\r\n\r\nThe parties agreed on a 4.3 per cent wage raise from April, and other payments spread over 27 months. Workers will be allowed to reduce their working week from the standard 35 hours to 28, while preserving the right to return to full-time work.\r\n\r\nEmployers successfully resisted IG Metall\u2019s demand that workers receive the same, or similar, pay for fewer hours worked a week.\r\n\r\nExperts said the deal reflected a new mindset among younger workers. \u201cMore and more people have periods in their lives when they want to work less, for example to look after elderly relatives, or to take a sabbatical or unpaid leave,\u201d said Hanna Schwander, professor of public policy at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.\r\n\r\nThe days when employees joined a company at an early age, worked full time most of their lives and retired early were \u201clong gone\u201d and it was becoming \u201cincreasingly important for people to reconcile their personal and professional lives\u201d, she said.\r\n\r\nIn an editorial, the business daily Handelsblatt said the deal reflected \u201cthe credo of the new age: that time is more valuable than money\u201d.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe wage settlement is a milestone on the path to a modern, self-determined world of work,\u201d said J\u00f6rg Hofmann, IG Metall\u2019s chairman.\r\n\r\nGermany\u2019s collective bargaining talks have been watched closely by the European Central Bank, which would be better able to hit its inflation target if wages in the eurozone\u2019s largest economy rose. Mario Draghi, the ECB chief, has said wages need to grow before the bank can unwind its crisis-era stimulus measures.\r\n\r\nMr Hofmann said the deal would have a \u201cpositive effect\u201d across the economy, with the \u201csignificant increase in incomes strengthening domestic demand\u201d.\r\n\r\nIG Metall had pushed for a 6 per cent annual rise and held the 24-hour strikes to press its demands. It also threatened to ballot its members on extended industrial action if employers failed to budge.\r\n\r\nWhile acknowledging the award would be a burden, Stefan Wolf, S\u00fcdwestmetall\u2019s negotiator, said the agreement\u2019s long duration would allow companies to better plan ahead. The deal would work out at below 4 per cent per year to employers, he said.\r\n\r\nWorkers will receive a one-off payment of \u20ac100 for the first quarter of 2018, and, from 2019, a sum equivalent to 27.5 per cent of their monthly salary as well as an additional fixed annual amount of \u20ac400, though this can be postponed, reduced or cancelled if economic conditions deteriorate.\r\n\r\nWorkers who need more time to look after children or elderly relatives can take eight additional days off work in lieu of the extra payment, two of which would be paid for by their employer.\r\n\r\nIn return, companies will be able to offer more 40-hour a week contracts, at times when there is a shortage of skilled workers.\r\n\r\n\u201cEmployees have more opportunities to reduce their hours of work, while companies get more options to increase the volume of working hours,\u201d Mr Wolf added.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FT, FEBRUARY 6, 2018 German workers won a key victory in their fight for a better work-life balance when a big employers\u2019 group agreed to demands from the country\u2019s largest trade union for the introduction of a 28-hour working week.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"issuem_issue":[2],"class_list":["post-49","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","issuem_issue-march-2018","entry","no-media"],"yoast_head":"\nGerman union wins right to 28-hour working week and 4.3% pay rise - Lok Samvad<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/populareducation.in\/loksamvad\/article\/german-union-wins-right-to-28-hour-working-week-and-4-3-pay-rise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"German union wins right to 28-hour working week and 4.3% pay rise - 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