German Paper Bargaining Goes to Conciliation

Bargaining in Germany’s paper industry for 45,000 workers has broken down over employers’ resistance to compromise. ICEM affiliate IGBCE said it was the first time in a decade that the union and paper companies have not reached a compromise, and the union will not evade a confrontation if conciliation now fails. IGBCE Governing Board Member Werner Bischoff expressed great disappointment at the employers’ unwillingness to seek a compromise. Paper companies stubbornly held to a single payment of €150 per worker for the first eight months of a new collective agreement, and then a 2% increase with a length-of-term proposal for 20 months. IGBCE finds that proposal unacceptable. The two sides will now go to conciliation in which equal numbers of worker representatives and employers will negotiate.