Press Release No. 10/2019 IG Metall Reaches Collective Bargaining Agreement for the East German Textile Industry

Meerane – Following 14 hours of negotiations in Meerane, IG Metall and employers in the East German textile industry have reached a collective bargaining agreement. In addition to a wage increase, the parties agreed to align working hours in the textile industry in Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia with those in West German collective bargaining regions. Specifically, this means that for East German textile workers, the weekly workweek will be reduced from the current 40 hours to the 37 hours already in effect in West Germany, in a total of six steps by 2027. The agreement also provides for a faster reduction in working hours for textile suppliers to the automotive industry.

“The collective bargaining agreement in the East German textile industry is an important milestone. With the harmonization of working hours, we have finally achieved a turning point here as well, 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall,” said Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall. “Equal treatment—and thus recognition of the performance of East German workers—is long overdue!”

Wages and apprenticeship stipends will increase by 2.6 percent as of June 1, 2019, by 1.6 percent as of August 1, 2020, and by 2.0 percent as of September 1, 2021. In addition, the parties to the collective bargaining agreement agreed that vacation pay will also be aligned with West German levels in three stages: It will be increased to 625 euros starting in 2019 and will rise by an additional 25 euros in both 2020 and 2021. Furthermore, the obligation to hire trainees will be extended. The partial retirement program will also be continued.

“We were able to successfully fend off the attack on the partial retirement quota,” said IG Metall negotiator Manfred Menningen. “It was high time to agree not only on a pay increase for employees who do good work day in and day out, but also on the harmonization of working conditions in the East German textile industry. The agreed-upon hiring provision gives young people secure prospects after completing their apprenticeships.”

The collective bargaining agreement on wages has a term of 36 months and expires on April 30, 2022. Approximately 16,000 people are employed in the East German textile industry.