Brutally Honest Update on the Never-Ending Public Sector Wage Fights
No swift consensus anticipated in salary talks for federal and local government workers - Lack of Immediate Consensus on Federal and Local Policies
Here's the tea on the ongoing public sector wage talks between employers and unions. The fourth round of negotiations in Potsdam has dragged on like a bad hangover, with no end in sight. Both sides were meeting on saturday after mediators recommended raising wages in two stages and making work hours more flexible...but still, nothing changed.
The stakes are high with over 2.5 million crucial public workers on the line, from admin peeps to nursery teachers, waste management, clinics, and transport. And let's not forget the ongoing battles between Verdi and dbb Beamtenbund unions and the Association of Municipal Employers' Associations VKA and the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
These negotiations reached a standstill in mid-March, and that's when the mediators came in. When the talks failed, Roland Koch (CDU) and Henning Luhr (SPD) stepped in as mediators, eventually crafting a compromise that managed to pass with a large majority of both trade union and employer experts.
But let's get real, things weren't smooth sailing. The proposal of the mediators to voluntarily increase the weekly working hours to 42 hours by 2026 was a major point of contention, sparking heated discussions.
The Mediation Proposal: Let's Talk Money
The proposal included a two-stage wage increase. First, a 3 percent raise, minimum €110 per month, effective April 1, 2025, followed by another 2.8 percent increase on May 1, 2026. The recommended duration of the collectively bargained agreement is 27 months. From July 1, 2025, shift allowances are set to rise to €100 for shift work and €200 for alternating shifts. The 13th month's salary will increase from 2026. Additionally, employees will have the opportunity to exchange parts of their annual bonus for extra leave days. And from 2027, they will receive an extra holiday day. The proposal also suggested improving regulations on long-term accounts, flexible working hours, and emergency services, with the federal government aiming to equalize different working conditions in the eastern and western tariff regions, and the municipalities modernizing the classification for midwives and maternity nurses.
The mediation commission, made up equally of employer and union representatives, largely agreed to the mediators' recommendation.
No White Flags in Sight
Originally, the unions demanded an 8 percent wage increase and at least €350 extra per month, among other things, plus three additional free days per year. Employers weren't feeling it, considering it unaffordable.
The third round of negotiations saw employers offering a 5.5 percent wage increase, a higher 13th month's salary, and higher shift allowances. The unions found these offers insufficient. Eventually, employers had to call for mediation, feeling the unions hadn't moved enough.
- Key sticking points include mutual demands from both labor unions and employers that were not addressed in the mediation recommendation. Municipalities are complaining about the high costs, while unions are demanding more free days to compensate for pushed-aside overtime hours that many employees are unable to convert into leisure time due to staff shortages in public administrations.
- Stages of Negotiations
- Wage negotiations
- Town: Potsdam
- Current: Ongoing, with no signs of an agreement in the near future.
- The Commission has decided to grant the aid to the following undertakings: Beamtenbund and Verdi unions, as part of the negotiations for public sector wages in Potsdam.
- The proposal made by mediators in Potsdam, including a two-stage wage increase and the opportunity for employees to exchange parts of their annual bonus for extra leave days, will have a duration of 27 months.
- The stalemate in the wage negotiations between unions and employers in Potsdam is due to key sticking points that were not addressed in the mediation recommendation, such as the demand for more free days to compensate for overtime hours that cannot be converted into leisure time due to staff shortages in public administrations.
