Everyone looks at the train drivers - in addition to the wage dispute at Deutsche Bahn, another major wage round began on Thursday: that for the public service of the federal states.
According to the will of the unions, the salaries for the approximately 1.1 million collective bargaining employees are to rise by 5 percent this autumn.
This was announced by the negotiators on the employee side, Verdi boss Frank Werneke and the chairman of the DBB Beamtenbund, Ulrich Silberbach, in Berlin.
Britta Beeger
Editor in business.
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As in the income round, the unions' package of demands also provides for a minimum increase of 150 euros per month for federal and municipal employees last year.
It would lead to a particularly strong increase in salaries for simple jobs, since 150 euros more up to an income of 3000 euros per month corresponds to an increase of more than 5 percent.
The starting salary for unskilled laborers - currently 2037 euros per month - would thus increase by 7.3 percent.
In addition, the unions are calling for a particularly significant increase for employees in the health sector: they should get 300 euros more per month.
The training allowances are to increase by 100 euros.
Corona crisis burdens state coffers
Even before the first negotiations at the beginning of October, it is clear that the talks will be difficult. The expectations of many employees in the state service are high due to the special stresses in the Corona period. Verdi boss Werneke said they had achieved outstanding results in the pandemic, citing university clinics, schools and the police as examples. “We have the clear expectation that respect and recognition for this achievement will be expressed in this collective bargaining round.” In addition, the price level has risen sharply. The employee representatives had made it clear before the start of the collective bargaining round that they were aiming for a deal well above the inflation rate. This climbed to 3.8 percent in July, and at the end of the year the Bundesbank even believes rates between 4 and 5 percent are possible.The DBB chairman Silberbach also emphasized that the public service had already been sewn to the edge before the pandemic and must finally become more attractive again for the offspring.
At the same time, however, the corona crisis has torn deep holes in the state coffers. In the first half of this year alone, the federal, state, local and social security funds spent almost 81 billion euros more than they received. "The unions should not arouse illusory expectations with their demands, but acknowledge the realities," said Lower Saxony Finance Minister Reinhold Hilbers (CDU) on Thursday, who negotiates on the employer's side for the collective bargaining community of the federal states (TdL) and thus for all federal states except Hesse. The public sector workers deserved appreciation. The pandemic also hit the countries hard financially. According to the TdL, the demands of the trade unions would burden the households with around 2.4 billion euros. If you include the officials, it would be around 7,5 billion euros.
In the most recent country wage round in 2019, employers and unions agreed on salary increases of 3.2 percent each for 2019 and 2020 and a further 1.4 percent at the beginning of this year. The collective bargaining agreement for the 2.3 million federal and municipal employees last year, which was already marked by the Corona crisis, was a little less lush. It provides for an increase of 3.2 percent in two stages and is also used as a benchmark for the country round. Verdi boss Werneke said that the upcoming collective bargaining round will "certainly not be easy". When asked, he emphasized that strikes were not an issue for the time being, but in principle the unions were capable of working.According to Verdi and DBB Beamtenbund, the collective agreement should have a term of twelve months and be quickly transferred to the civil servants.