Trade union FNV demands that wages rise between 5 and 14 percent next year. This is necessary because many people have difficulty making ends meet due to high inflation, the association says.
The union traditionally presents its central wage demand the day before Budget Day. That requirement becomes the focus of all collective labor agreement negotiations. In addition to the wage increase, the union also wants the minimum wage to be increased and wages to automatically increase with inflation.
Earlier, the CNV trade union also announced the wage requirement for 2024. CNV wants a pay increase of between 4 and 10 percent. At companies where a significant wage increase has already been agreed this year, the wage increase may remain limited.
Good luck
The unions have already achieved success. The average wage increase this year is 7.4 percent, employers’ association AWVN recently reported. That is a historically large wage increase and considerably higher than the 3.8 percent for 2022. But it lags behind the 14.3 percent that the FNV demanded last year.
The loss of purchasing power has only been partially compensated, according to the FNV. The union had previously focused on automatic price compensation (APC) for all workers. “But the APC has only been agreed upon in collective labor agreements very occasionally,” says a spokesperson for AWVN.
Catching up
That is why FNV and CNV are now focusing on catching up. In addition to a percentage wage increase, CNV also wants employees to receive an additional 50 to 100 euros per month. This is especially beneficial for lower incomes. FNV wants to increase the minimum wage to 16 euros per week and reintroduce the APC in negotiations on a new collective labor agreement.
CNV also has a plan for employee shares. Employees then receive shares in the company, so they benefit if the company does well.
Warning
Employers have been warning against significant wage increases for some time. The costs are unaffordable for many entrepreneurs. Companies are also already struggling with high costs for energy and materials. Many companies cannot pass on these higher costs, which reduces profits, business organizations warn. Higher wages can therefore be the final blow to companies.
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