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Strike rally of the railway and transport union (EVG): Higher wages demanded

Photo: Sina Schuldt / dpa

For millions of employees covered by collective bargaining agreements, the bottom line is that less remained in their wallets in the first quarter. Collectively agreed monthly earnings, including special payments, grew by an average of 2.7 percent from January to March compared to the same period last year, according to the Federal Statistical Office on Wednesday. However, this was far from enough to offset the rise in consumer prices: the inflation rate averaged 8.3 percent in the first quarter.

The development was very different in the sectors due to the divergent data of tariff increases and one-off payments. In some cases, Corona special premiums from the previous year also had a dampening effect if there was no new payment, as the statisticians explain.

In some sectors, such as hotels and restaurants (10.4 per cent) and other services, including temporary work (8.4 per cent), collectively agreed salaries, including special payments, rose at an above-average rate. In industry, there were wage increases of an average of 1.0 percent, which only increased to 9.9 percent including the special payments.

Collectively agreed wages developed negatively in the areas of public administration, defence, social security (-1.5 per cent), education and training (-1.8 per cent) and arts, entertainment and recreation (-1.7 per cent). According to the information, this is due in particular to the corona premiums paid in the same quarter of the previous year, which are now no longer received and are therefore excluded from the calculation.

In almost all sectors of the economy except mining, the tariff index with special payments in the East remained below the value in West Germany.

The trade unions are trying to push through significantly higher deals because of the sharp rise in the cost of living. For the more than 800,000 employees in temporary work, for example, there is an agreed two-stage wage increase of up to 13 percent.

Among the 2.5 million employees in the public sector of the federal and state governments, the lower pay groups see an increase of 16 percent at the end of the term, according to union figures, while other areas see an increase of more than eleven percent.

mmq/Reuters/dpa