BERLIN (AP) — The union representing 550,000 German chemical industry workers says it has concluded a wage agreement that will see a 4.5 percent wage increase for its members over 19 months.
The IG BCE union and chemical industry representatives concluded the agreement Thursday in a meeting outside Berlin, the dapd news agency reported. The award is more than double Germany's inflation rate of around 2 percent.
German unions have been pushing for big wage increases this year, pointing to the country's robust economic growth and workers' relative wage restraint during recent times.
The IG Metall manufacturing union concluded a deal earlier this month for a 4.3 percent annual wage hike for some 3.6 million industrial workers. The public workers ver.di union secured a deal in March that totaled a 6.3 percent increase over two years for the 2 million employees it represents.
