Germany’s BDSI confectionery trade body expresses concern over worker pay strikes

Germany’s BDSI confectionery trade body has expressed concern over ‘exaggerated strikes’ within the nation’s sector, amid an ongoing industry-wide dispute over staff pay across the country within confectionery manufacturing businesses, reports Neill Barston.

According to the key organisation, its attempts to resolve the situation last month in two-day negotiations with the Food, Pleasure and and Restaurant Union (NGG) were unsuccessful, as the group did not accept what was claimed as a fair offer that had been made.

Consequently, local reports have claimed that strike action has been undertaken by employees in a number of facilities, though the BDSI believed that this has been exaggerated, and that it welcomed a legal ruling in the past week that declared such industrial action within the sector was not legitimate.

The reported strikes come amid a period of considerable challenges within the German confectionery sector, including a sustained period of high energy prices, ingredients rises, and wider supply chain issues that were influential factors in the delay of this year’s ISM event in Cologne (see our exclusive video interview here on the show).

Speaking to Confectionery Production, the BDSI noted that in Mid may, the NGG union unilaterally broke off the two-day collective bargaining on the first day of the negotiations – but it remains hopeful of a resolution before the summer holiday period.

“Instead of talking to the employers and working together on a new collective agreement, the NGG used the second day of negotiations purely internally for preparing strikes, recording statements, preparing leaflets,” explains Ernst Kammerinke, BDSI’s collective bargaining director .”The employers submitted a decent offer on May 15, 2023 and, based on this, sent clear signals for further concessions in the subsequent, partly confidential discussions,” Kammerinke continued.

Furthermore, according to the BDSI, the NGG also did not respond to an offer for talks made by the association after the collective bargaining. The BDSI said that it anticipates the union to return to the negotiating table later this month. In the interests of the more than 200 companies in the confectionery industry and their 60,000 employees, the employers are aiming for a collective agreement before the start of the summer holidays.

The employer offer from May 15, 2023 (using the example of North Rhine-Westphalia) included for the months of May, June, July, August, September 2023 a net payment totalling €1,000 to mitigate temporarily high consumer prices. From October 2023, a pay increase for all employees in the amount of €125. For the months of May, June, July, August 2024, there would be an additional net payment of  €500 to mitigate temporarily high consumer prices. Other measures included from September 2023, further  pay increase for all employees in the amount of €100; as well as a training allowance of €100. There would be a collective agreement covering the next two years.

According to the BDSI, the two pay increases in effect amounted to 6.66% in basic pay (skilled workers) and 9.53% in a lower wage group. In addition, there is a total of €1,500 inflation compensation premium.

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