German public sector unions began
a decisive round of wage talks with employers Sunday, after staging a series of strikes that caused disruptions at airports, train stations, hospitals and
daycare centres.
German unions said Thursday they would demand a six percent pay rise from state and local governments for public sector workers in upcoming talks, soon after metalworkers scored a big increase.
Almost one million employees with Germany's powerful metalworking union IG Metall won higher pay and the right to a reduced working week in an agreement with employers late Monday, potentially staving off the threat of fresh strikes after a week of walkouts.
A labour dispute between German industry and the powerful metalworkers' union threatens to escalate with bouts of 24-hour strike action next week after talks with employers broke down.
The Social Democratic Party (SPD) want to introduce a law allowing women to see what their male colleagues earn, in an attempt to level the gender pay gap.
Tourists and business travellers visiting Germany are often surprised when they reach to pay for their beer, metro tickets or even a large restaurant bill that their credit cards are not welcome. Habits, however, are slowly changing as younger consumers leapfrog from cash to convenient electronic forms of payment.
Members of service workers' union Verdi at Deutsche Post made good on threats to walk off the job on Monday, announcing an indeterminate strike that will hit deliveries across Germany.
The public services union Ver.di announced on Monday evening that negotiations over a pay increase for Kindergarten teachers had failed. Strikes will start at the end of next week and go on for an indefinite period.
Public sector workers' union Ver.di has called on kindergarten teachers to strike for a second day in a protest against low pay hitting hundreds of pre-schools.
A quarter of all politicians in the German Parliament are making additional income on top of their parliamentary salary, a transparency group said on Saturday. Thirteen lawmakers have made more than €100,000 in the last few months.
Millions of workers in Germany saw a real increase in pay in the first half of the year, with wages negotiated through collective bargaining agreements recording their highest rise for 15 years.
Just under half of all overtime hours worked in Germany are not paid, according to a new study, with employees putting in an average of three unpaid overtime hours a month.
Further public sector strikes have been prevented by a pay deal reached on Saturday morning giving workers a 6.3 percent raise over two years. German airports were paralysed and many other services disrupted by the strikes.
Germany made no progress last year on its yawning gender wage gap, with women earning 23 percent less in gross pay than men – the same as 2009, official figures showed Thursday.
One of Germany’s top bankers has blasted senior colleagues around the world with a call to end exorbitant bonuses in the banking industry, business newspaper <i>Handelsblatt</i> reported Sunday.
