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  1. Collective Bargaining
  2. Collective Bargaining Rounds
  3. Skilled Trades
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2025 Collective Bargaining Round for the Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning Trade Higher Wages in the Plumbing Trade in Hesse

Collective bargaining agreement for the plumbing, heating, and HVAC trades in Hesse: Employees and apprentices will receive a permanent 2.9 percent pay increase effective January 1, 2026.

Ein Techniker wartet eine Heizungsanlage
Foto: istock / AlexRaths

1 December 2025 1 December 2025

IG Metall Mitte and the Hesse Trade Association for Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning have reached a collective bargaining agreement. Approximately 12,000 employees at around 1,400 plumbing trade businesses will benefit from the agreement.


The details of the agreement

Starting January 1, 2026, wages for employees and apprentices will increase by 2.9 percent.

Apprentice wages will thus increase to the following amounts as of January 1, 2026:

  • 1st year of apprenticeship: 1,008 euros
  • 2nd year of training: 1,060 euros
  • 3rd year of training: 1,163 euros
  • 4th year of training: 1,266 euros

Julia Graf, chief negotiator for IG Metall Mitte, is satisfied with the collective bargaining agreement. “The skilled trades sector has been complaining about a shortage of skilled workers for years. The wage increase now agreed upon can help make apprenticeships more attractive to young people. In that respect, the outcome is a step in the right direction. But nothing more than that.”

The collective bargaining agreement expires on December 31, 2026.

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Foto: IG Metall
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Pay, Vacation, Working Hours Collective bargaining agreements: What they offer, who benefits

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Six Steps to a Collective Bargaining Agreement Fighting for a collective bargaining agreement—here’s how

Whether it’s income, working hours, or vacation time—a collective bargaining agreement makes things fairer at work. For anyone whose company isn’t currently covered by a collective bargaining agreement, we’ll show you in six steps how to change that.

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Interview on Collective Bargaining Coverage Collective Bargaining Agreement: Don’t have one? Get one!

Collective bargaining agreements ensure better and more secure wages and working conditions. Don’t have one? Get one! Uwe Zabel from the Joint Development Project “Network Future” of the IG Metall Mitte district explains how to do it. He has helped negotiate more than 30 collective bargaining agreements.

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This is only possible with a collective bargaining agreement The agreements that ensure fairness in the workplace

Where collective bargaining agreements apply, conditions are fairer. But when and for whom do they actually apply? What does being covered by a collective bargaining agreement look like in practice? We explain what types of collective bargaining agreements exist, what they regulate, and who is “covered by a collective bargaining agreement.”

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