On 26 July 2002, the social partners in retail signed a new collective agreement for the sector's 222,000 or so employees in the Baden-Württemberg region. After five rounds of negotiations, the Unified Service Sector Union (Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft, ver.di), the national Employers' Association for the Retail Trade (Hauptverband des Deutschen Einzelhandels, HDE) and the Joint Federation of Large and Medium-sized Retail Employers (Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Mittel- und Großbetriebe des Einzelhandels, BAG) signed an agreement which runs for 12 months (retrospectively from 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003) and provides for:
After the retail sector collective bargaining parties in Baden-Württemberg reached a new pay agreement in late July 2002, conflicts in nearly all other German retail bargaining regions were resolved in August. The agreements generally provide for pay increases of 3.1%, plus lump-sum payments.
On 26 July 2002, the social partners in retail signed a new collective agreement for the sector's 222,000 or so employees in the Baden-Württemberg region. After five rounds of negotiations, the Unified Service Sector Union (Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft, ver.di), the national Employers' Association for the Retail Trade (Hauptverband des Deutschen Einzelhandels, HDE) and the Joint Federation of Large and Medium-sized Retail Employers (Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Mittel- und Großbetriebe des Einzelhandels, BAG) signed an agreement which runs for 12 months (retrospectively from 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003) and provides for:
a 3.1% pay increase from 1 August 2002; and
a lump-sum payment of EUR 180 for the period from April to July 2002.
Existing regional collective agreements in the retail sector expired between the end of March 2002 and the end of June 2002, depending on the region. Ver.di had demanded a 6.5% pay increase or monthly fixed amounts between EUR 120 and EUR 130. The retail employers' associations rejected these demands and offered a 1.7% pay increase for the first 12 months, and a pay increase corresponding to the rate of inflation for the following 12 months. Ver.di considered this offer to be a provocation and on 22 May 2002 called nationwide token strikes and some full strikes.
Similar agreements to that concluded in Baden-Württemberg have now been reached in retail in most German federal states (Länder), ending this industrial action. On 8 August 2002, the bargaining parties in North Rhine-Westfalia signed a new agreement, after employers' associations retracted a claim for a 'hardship clause' (Härtefallklausel), whereby, under certain conditions, companies with major economic problems could pay their employees below the minimum wage set by the collective agreement for a limited period of time. Furthermore, a 'prohibition of disciplinary action' (Maßregelungsverbot), which guarantees that striking employees will not be put at a disciplinary or financial disadvantage, was agreed; this had been a point of contention throughout the negotiations.
Eurofound priporoča, da to publikacijo navedete na naslednji način.
Eurofound (2002), Collective agreements signed in retail sector, article.
