Key European pay deals running at 3.4%–4%
Spring 2007 has been a busy negotiating period in those European countries where the central role in pay-setting is played by major set-piece collective bargaining rounds. In Denmark and Sweden, these bargaining rounds currently occur every three years and pattern-setting deals have already been reached in the leading sectors.
In March, new agreements were concluded in the Swedish metalworking industry, providing for an average pay increase of 10.2% over 2007–10 for the sector’s 300,000 workers – 3 percentage points higher than the previous three-year deal agreed in 2004. The pace-setting agreement in Denmark is in manufacturing (240,000 employees), and here the settlement – which has been followed by similar deals in sectors such as construction – is slightly higher, increasing wage costs by 4% per year.
In the first of Germany’s major industry settlements for 2007, negotiators in the chemicals sector (550,000 employees) have reached a 14-month deal that provides for a 3.6% increase, plus a one-off payment (that may be varied at company level), bringing the total rise to around 4%. However, bargaining continues in the vital metalworking sector, with no sign of an agreement and warnings of possible industrial action in mid-April.
Important bargaining is also under way elsewhere in Europe, for example over a central pay deal for 2007 in Norway.
Mark Carley, Editor, European Employment Review |
