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Bloomberg
Germany’s biggest union said it has won a 6.5% pay rise — the biggest in 30 years — for steel workers in the northwest of the country, setting the stage for upcoming talks in the metals- and electronics industries.
The 18-month deal for about 68,000 steel industry employees includes one-off payments of 500 euros ($524) for June and July, IG Metall said. The agreement marks the latest example of accelerating wage growth in Europe’s biggest economy.
“This result is the right answer to the solid profitability for most companies in the sector,†IG Metall head Joerg Hoffmann said in a statement. “For workers, the agreement is a positive step to help ease the burden of significantly higher prices.â€
Like the rest the euro area, German consumers are facing pressure from record inflation. Supply-chain problems stemming from the war in Ukraine and coronavirus lockdowns in China are exacerbating the issues for the country’s industrial giants and carmakers with higher costs for energy and raw materials.
Steel workers had initially demanded an 8.2% wage increase. Negotiations for 33,000 workers in east Germany will start following strikes over the past two weeks.
Germany to stop
property deals
Germany is preparing legislation to prohibit cash transactions in the real-estate market to step up efforts to fight money laundering and other financial crimes.
“Our national risk assessment shows that we need to do more in the real-estate sector,†Finance Minister Christian Lindner said in Berlin.
Lindner was speaking at a meeting of the Financial Action Task Force. Germany currently holds the presidency of the organisation, which sets international standards in the fight against terrorist financing and money laundering.
The FATF is expected in August to publish a report on Germany after examining the country’s record in fighting financial crimes. German financial regulator BaFin has been under scrutiny for failing to spot problems at payments firm Wirecard AG, which
collapsed in 2020.