Steel workers resolute on 6 per cent pay increase
Friday 10 September 2010
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EmailGermany's powerful IG Metall union has demanded a six per cent pay rise across the country's steel industry, together with equal payment for all 85,000 people employed in the sector.
The current agreement ended on August 31, and negotiations with steel industry employers started on September 6.
Setting a new benchmark, the 2.5 million-strong union also wants pay negotiated within the new agreement to cover all workers employed directly by the companies and indirectly through labour agencies.
The move would secure equal treatment for approximately 3,000 casual employees in the steel industry and prevent companies from using employment agencies to reduce steel workers' rates of pay.
IG Metall is also seeking a new agreement to reduce working time for employees aged 60 and over.
IG Metall said its demands are realistic because the industry has been operating with 2.2 per cent higher output over the last three months in comparison with the previous year.
Strong exports helped push the German economy - Europe's biggest - to growth of 2.2 per cent in the second quarter of this year.
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