Wood and Plastics Higher Wages at Particleboard Manufacturer Pfleiderer

Last week, 815 employees applied pressure through nationwide warning strikes at particleboard manufacturer Pfleiderer.

It paid off. The IG Metall negotiating committee has reached a settlement that provides significantly more money:

• 1,000 euros net inflation adjustment bonus (IAP) in May 2024
  500 euros for apprentices and employees in partial retirement; part-time employees receive a pro-rata amount
• 1,000 euros net inflation adjustment bonus (IAP) in August 2024
  500 euros for apprentices and employees in partial retirement; part-time employees receive a pro-rata amount
• 5 percent more pay per month starting in December 2024
  Apprenticeship wages will increase to 1,200 (1st year of apprenticeship) to 1,400 euros (4th year of apprenticeship) per month
• 4 percent more money per month starting in November 2025
  Apprenticeship wages will increase to 1,250 (1st year of apprenticeship) to 1,450 euros (4th year of apprenticeship) per month

The term of the agreement is 24 months, through March 31, 2026. After that, IG Metall will once again be able to secure new pay increases.
 

Warning strike at Pfleiderer in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia

IG Metall secured this agreement on Thursday in Neumarkt, Bavaria, after 18 hours of negotiations.

“We had to fight hard to reach an agreement. The result is a compromise that doesn’t overburden Pfleiderer in an economic environment with intense competitive pressure and ensures that our colleagues receive a decent amount of extra pay,” explains Christian Iwanowski, IG Metall’s chief negotiator for Pfleiderer. “After the past two years of constant price increases, this was more than necessary. Our warning strikes at all five locations two days before the decisive negotiations made an impression on the employer, as did our announcement that we would launch a second wave of warning strikes if necessary. This showed just how serious we are about our demands.”

The IG Metall bargaining committee will vote on the outcome of the negotiations on April 18.

Pfleiderer, a particleboard manufacturer with five locations across Germany, is not bound by the regional collective bargaining agreements for the wood and plastics processing industries but is instead governed by its own in-house collective bargaining agreement.