Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Germany- IG Metal Union seeks 7% wage increase

Trade union IG Metall will be demanding a 7 pct wage increase for about 85,000 workers in the steel and iron industries in three regions in western Germany, a union spokesman said.

Wage bargaining talks are scheduled to start on Aug 23 and the workers affected are in North Rhine-Westphalia, Bremen and Lower Saxony.

Two steel-producing regions in eastern Germany normally follow the results of wage talks in North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Bremen.

The IG Metall spokesman said IG Metall’s Wage Commission has decided today to table a 7 pct wage hike with validity for 12 months.

The last wage bargaining, which took place in 2005, saw IG Metall finally obtaining a 3.5 pct increase after initially asking for 6.5 pct.

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