New agreement reached in western textiles industry

In September 2002, the bargaining parties in the west German textiles and clothing industry reached a new collective agreement, after three rounds of bargaining. It provides for pay increases of 3% in 2002 and 2.7% in 2003, as well as employers' contributions to company pension schemes.

On 13 September 2002, the IG Metall trade union and the two employers' associations for the textiles and clothing industry - the umbrella organisation of the German textiles industry, Gesamttextil, and the clothing industry employers' organisation, Bundesverband Bekleidungsidnustrie (BBI) - concluded a new collective agreement for the industry's 160,000 or so employees. The deal was reached in the third round of negotiations after 13 hours of talks. It runs for two years and provides for:

• a 3% pay increase from 1 October 2002, and a 2.7% pay increase from 1 December 2003;

• a yearly employer contribution to company pension schemes of EUR 60 per employee in 2002 and 2003, and of EUR 120 in 2004;

• a 5.7% holiday pay increase from 2004;

• an increase in apprenticeship allowances of EUR 30 in 2002, and a 2.7% increase in 2003; and

• trainees still to be taken on by employers for at least 12 months at the end of their training (DE0010284N).

IG Metall had originally demanded a pay increase of 5.5%, while the employers' first offer was a two-year agreement with a 2.2% pay increase in 2002 and a further 2% in 2003.

Both parties were generally satisfied with the agreement. Employers' associations described the agreement as a 'hard-won compromise with planned reliability'. Hartmut Bielefeld, the negotiator for Gesamttextil, described the employers' contributions to company pension schemes as a sign of their 'social joint responsibility'. Peter Donath, the negotiator for IG Metall, stated that the employers' contribution to company pension schemes was a result which could also 'act as signal' to other sectors.