"We have reached a responsible tariff agreement," said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who is responsible for the federal civil service.
Pressure was high on the social partners after several weeks of fruitless negotiations, accompanied by strike movements in many public sectors - post, transport or hospitals - in a context of sharp price increases.
Some 2.5 million workers in the state and municipalities will see their wages increase by 5.5%, or at least 340 euros per month, from March 2024. From June 2023, a tax-exempt inflation compensation of €3,000 must be paid in several instalments.
"By deciding to accept this compromise, we have gone to the tolerable limit," Frank Werneke, president of the United Services Union (Verdi), which represents public employees, said in a statement.
Verdi and the federation of civil servants demanded a salary increase of 10.5%, and at least 500 euros per month over a period of twelve months.
This agreement will make it possible to avoid a hardening of the social movement after several days of mobilization and work stoppages since the beginning of the year.
At the end of March, Verdi joined a vast national strike movement that paralyzed the transport sector in Germany.
The inflation records recorded in recent months in the country, with a peak of 10.4% year-on-year in October, have strained annual wage negotiations in the various sectors of activity.
Tariff discussions continue in other sectors, such as the railway sector where railway workers observed a half-day strike on Friday.
At the end of 2022, nearly 4 million German industrial workers won a wage increase of 8.5% over two years.
In the airport sector, security personnel at Berlin airport are called to strike on Monday by the Verdi union.
© 2023 AFP